Calling Umbra
by Radiklement
Summary: Luna's death has left him broken inside. Is life even worth it? Putting up with Gladio's bickering is almost too much, until Noctis realizes hope isn't entirely gone. Pryna might have died, but Umbra is still alive. Umbra might take him back. All of them. Going back means sight for Ignis, while it's Noctis' last chance. Or more torments? Only time will tell...
1. Prologue

This story should be short. I'm aiming for less than 10 chapters. It's an idea I had when I first tried to figure out what sort of stories I wanted to write over FFXV. It's been sitting in my head for sometimes. And when I can't write on Unexpected, I tend to write on other FFXV fics. Since I went back in time right after the train ride, let's say it's my approach of yet another twist they could/should have think about. I don't want to spoil it. But the title says it all. The fic will focus on Noctis and Ignis, while having Noctluna at his core. Enjoy…

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Calling Umbra

Prologue – Despair

Luna was gone. The light at the end of the tunnel. The gentle words in their notebook, always ready to pick him up. His princess. When he closed his eyes, he could almost see his dream again. Could it be called a dream? Hadn't it been a nightmare? What would have happened if he'd manage to reach her?

The blue flowers dancing all around her, a raging sea of petals. She was slipping away, fading. She was gone. Like the tears in his eyes. He still ached all over and sometimes, it was hard to breath. As though he was still drowning. As though he could still see her, at arm's length, reaching out for him, a gentle smile on her face. He'd just wanted one touch. The right to look her in the eyes and to have her looking back for more than a second. To feel her gaze on him. Have a taste of her smile. To caress her hair and maybe, just maybe hold her closer than friendship allowed.

His heart ached and bled. His mind was nothing but confusion. His body moved, almost on autopilot. He couldn't smile when Prompto tried to joke. Couldn't hide the hurt when he saw Ignis fumbling around with his cane. And he barely controlled the anger he felt every time Gladiolus chided him for being too slow or too brooding.

His Luna was gone. Leviathan had forged the covenant with him, but at what price? Hundreds of people had perished, Ardyn had stabbed the Oracle, Lunafreya was…

He wanted to crawl back in his bed and howl in pain with Umbra held close until his throat would be too numb to utter a sound.

Remembering the dog made him realize something. For an instant, the pain receded. The train shook around him and he instinctively looked for Ignis, hopping the man hadn't fallen from the sudden movement. His advisor looked fine, well, as fine as he could be. Noctis tried to follow his previous line of thoughts. Their dog. Her dog. The last of the pair. What if he called Umbra?

 _If I go back and warn her…_

Could it be that simple? Umbra could take him back to Lucis, but maybe also to Altissia before the tide mother was even summoned. This mean he could still see her. This mean she could still be waiting.

 _Does it even work that way?_

He needed to talk to her. Face to face. They'd been separated for 12 years. Writing back and forth. Missing each other. And all he'd get was a knowing look?

 _I can't let it end like this._

…

When the train finally stopped, the guys were shocked to see Noctis leading them right back towards the tracks.

"Why do you think we made this whole trip?"

"I just want to test out something, Gladio, alright? The mines aren't going anywhere."

"But…"

Noctis halted and turned on his heels, glaring back at his shield's angry eyes.

"You keep asking me to act like a king. I don't want to order any of you around, but if you refuse to follow, I'll command you to."

"You know being a king is more than just…"

Noctis snapped and grabbed his collar, yanking him down to his level.

"I'm sick of hearing it, man. Follow your king or find a corner to sulk in until we get back."

Gladiolus bared his teeth while Prompto dared asking the question that was already on Ignis' mind.

"Getting where?"

"We've never tried it before, but…" He wondered how he could explain the powers a simple dog held. Gladiolus would never believe it, despite everything else they'd seen.

A passerby made Ignis stumble, the advisor not moving out of his path quickly enough and seemed ready to pick up a fight before to realize the state the man was in. Noctis' fists clenched even tighter at the sight. How fair was that?

The man had already given up his entire life for him, and now…

"It's easier if we just try it. You guys follow me."

The walk didn't last long, despite Gladiolus mumbled complains about delaying the inevitable, Prompto making sure no one else bumped into Ignis on their way to the train's chambers.

"You want to rest up? We've been doing nothing but…!"

"I don't think that's what Noct have in mind," Iggy objected.

And soon enough, the soft bark of Umbra appearing in front of Noctis proved him right. Gladiolus crossed his arms, while the prince scratched the dog's neck.

"Good boy. I need you to take us back, Umbra. How far back can we go?"

Turning his head around, Umbra sat down, the white marks in his fur shining for an instant.

"What the…?"

Noctis blinked and saw two paintings in his mind. One was of Altissia, before that Leviathan strike. One was of Lucis. For an instant, he wondered if he could go far enough to save his father too, but the painting turned clearer and Insomnia was a crater of smoke on the map.

 _Altissia_ , he thought bitterly. _This time I won't fail her._

Gladiolus and Prompto were both feeling disoriented as the travel happened. One instant, they were standing in the noisy train station, and one blink later, they opened their eyes on Altissia's radiant streets.

Water was running in the canals, gondolas passing by, the sky bright and the sun up high. It was nothing like the destroyed city they remembered. But the most disoriented of them had to be Ignis, who was suddenly missing his cane and could open both eyes. The light felt too strong, but after blinking madly, the advisor raised one shaking hand to his face. The scars were gone. And the darkness with them.

"What sort of magic is this?"

Noctis had turned on himself, taking a good look around and smiled as he realized that Ignis was back to his old self.

"It really worked. We've travelled into the past!" he marveled.

"What?!" Gladiolus exclaimed.

"It's something Umbra can do." He tried explaining.

"Travelling through time?" Ignis whispered. "Why would our own state change?"

Prompto shrugged, raising his empty hands in helplessness.

"Why didn't we try it before?"

"I never saw the use. And there's a limit to how far Umbra can take us. But since your wound only happened after Altissia's destruction…" Noctis told his advisor only to be interrupted by Gladio.

"This makes no sense. We have to be hallucinating."

"But if it's real, doesn't talking of the future put everything in jeopardy? Or can we influence things? And what about events? Can we change our bets at the coliseum on a specific day?" Prompto mused.

"Money is the least of our concern. I don't know what the rules are…" Noctis admitted.

Ignis crossed his arms, trying to contain his excitement at seeing again. The sky looked so blue. He didn't dare to close his eyes even for a second, but the question that followed needed to be asked.

"If we go back to the present, I'm still going to be blind, right?"

Noctis swallowed, registering the very light tremble in his friend's voice. This had to be torture for him.

"I don't know, Ignis. I wished I had the answers, but I can't go back now. I came here for a reason."

Understanding dawned on the three men.

"Lady Lunafreya." Prompto whispered, his eyes darkening.

Gladiolus rolled his shoulders, eyeing their surroundings dubiously. He felt out of his element and his anger was kicking back, almost impossible to control.

"We can't turn back time."

"What's wrong with you?! This is my chance to make things right! Luna didn't deserve what happened to her."

"Yeah, and so did Iggy's uncle, Prompto's parents and my old man. Will you go back for them too?!"

Umbra was still standing close by and whimpered at the violence of the accusation, his ears lowering on his head. Noctis felt his throat tightening.

"If I could I would, but Insomnia will still have fallen if we go back to Lucis."

"Because your dog can take us back to Lucis too?!" Prompto asked.

They were all overwhelmed and starting to gather quite a lot of attention from the passerbys.

"We should take this somewhere else," Ignis cautioned them.

It was a pity he was still the most rational of them, considering the fact he was miraculously sighted again.

"We should go back to the present to make sure we know how this whole thing works first. I don't want to stay stuck." Gladio observed.

"Or we could fall in a never-ending loop. You remember that movie we saw last year?" Prompto added.

"Guys, stop! We're not jumping back and forth and…"

"Noctis!" Ignis cut him off. "I understand that talking things over is the last thing you want to do right now. But we need to find our bearings. And I'd rather have this conversation in private."

They rented a room in the Leville, Umbra apparently refusing to leave them. The dog sat by Prompto's feet during their two hours talk.

The newspaper Ignis had picked up on their way in was the date of their arrival in Altissia. Looking through their stock, they noticed the weapons bought after the catastrophe were still in their possession. That alarmed Noctis, but the guys managed to keep him quiet long enough to get a few answers from him. Luna hadn't given him much details about this power Umbra had. She'd insisted it might help him in revisiting places he'd missed as he rushed along his travels.

"How long can we stay?" Gladiolus asked

"I don't know." Noctis sighed.

"Does time stop in the present when we go back?" Ignis inquired next.

"Yes, from what I've gathered."

"What about time here? Is this like an alternate reality of the past?" Prompto suggested.

"No. At least I don't think so."

"How else can you explain that we still have those weapons and new potions?" Gladio pushed forward the idea.

"You might already have Leviathan ready to be summoned." Prompto sighed.

"Even if I did, I'm not summoning that… thing." Noctis snarled, ready to run off into the street

"Way to disrespect a god."

The talk went on, making the prince dizzy. They kept on suggesting crazier theories and for the nth time, he wished Umbra could talk back and answer in his stead. The dog had to know the limits of this whole travelling in time thing. After one hour and a half of this, Noctis finally lost his nerves.

"Guys, stop beating around the bush. You're all trying to prepare me in case this can't work, but my mind is made up already. We can at least try. Is it so selfish to want a chance to save her?"

His voice almost broke and he gritted his teeth, excepting Gladiolus' angry reply. Much to his surprise, it was Ignis that answered him first.

"No, I don't think you're being selfish. But I can't help but be worried about this. Those powers are suddenly really convenient. Is it really Umbra, or could it be the chancellor messing around with you, like he did back in the train?"

"I swear, I didn't suddenly make this up. Umbra could have taken us back in time at any point… At least, from the moment we'd reached Cape Caem..."

"Then why did you keep it from us?" Gladiolus shot back.

"Because I didn't want to look back when I was this close to seeing her!" he retorted, his fist hitting the side table hard enough to make the glasses jiggle together.

Prompto wrung his hands, his leg jumping nervously while Gladiolus looked away, finding it too hard to see Noctis' pain. Ignis ran one hand through his hair, not caring for how messy that would make it look.

"We need to find the limits of this thing." He started. "And as much as I don't want to tell you this, you can't get your hopes up, Noct. We have no way of knowing the events of the last covenant are going to take place again if we stay."

"Couldn't we run into ourselves? Like our past selves?" Prompto asked.

"Highly improbable, otherwise, I would still be blind. If anything, we've merged with our past selves' bodies. I can't believe I'm saying something as ludicrous."

"So what, you want me to take you back to the present because this is too much to process?!"

"Yes!"

"No!" came their opposed answers.

"I think we should go back at least once," Ignis suggested. "If only to confirm a few things."

"So what, we get a mission done around here, go back to the present and come right back to see if the mission is still completed or something?"

"I feel a headache coming." Gladiolus complained, getting up from his chair. "But I think this is the most logical thing you've said in a while."

Noctis wanted to protest, but his friends had just learned that time travel was possible. It was normal that they didn't want to jump into things without knowing as much as they could. Last time they'd done so, half a city was destroyed.

"You're not going to knock me down and drag be into that mine once we go back?"

"I know I've been a pain in the ass lately, but I'm not about to sink that low. Especially if I see that time really stops in the present. Although I won't let you run away. We're not spending years here."

"If I can just save Luna, it will be enough."

How to do so was an entirely different story. But he would see it through to the end. This time, he wouldn't let her drown. He'd rip into the first secretary's manor estate if he needed to. He'd come back as many times as it would take. If he could be selfish about one thing, it had to be this.

To be continued…

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The die is cast. Now, the big question is, will Noctis be able to see Luna? And how could it change things? Do you want this story to follow canon and be a bittersweet angstfest… Or do we stray from canon, while still going through the angstfest? I think I don't mind either way. I have Unexpected and Stranded to see Noctluna staying alive. So I want to have your opinion over it. Like that survey SE made for the next updates and dlc (don't get me started on that thing, there should be an all those answers option) I'd like to know which option you'd prefer. So here is the full question:

Do you want Noctis to be able to save Luna by calling Umbra or not?

Be sure to let me know. ;)

Next chapters will be longer. If you think I forgot to address any potential question about the time travel, be sure to mention it.


	2. Finding her

I decided to give this story a new chapter, after finally deciding on which direction to take for it. So, I can already say this story is getting a follow-up fic. But the info for it will be in the end chapter, in a few months. I want to thank you all for the warm welcome you gave Calling Umbra's prologue. For the first chapter, we have more bros time and the first Noct/Luna scene. Enjoy!

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Calling Umbra

Chapter 1 – Finding her

It was nerve-wrecking for Noctis to go with how his friends wanted things to be. Not to look for Luna the minute they arrived in Altissia. He remembered the very feeling in his heart on the day he'd first set foot in the city. He was excited like a schoolboy facing impending summer vacation. Almost frantic and doing everything he could to keep it down. The situation was still as serious. But Prompto, Gladio and even Ignis were all acting as though the wedding was surely going to take place once the new covenant was done.

Luna's voice would finally reach his ears, not carried on paper anymore, and every promise in their notebook…

He'd been nervous. Impatient. _Overwhelmed._ Ready to rush down every street, unable to register the details of the canals they went through, barely answering to the guys small talk. There was a single name on his mind and it was even worse now.

"Maybe we should try swinging by Lucis? Run our test out there first?" Prompto said.

"No delays." Noctis objected.

"How can there be a delay with time travel?!" Gladiolus retorted, without as much bite as the previous time.

The shield was still shocked by the whole thing, while Ignis turned his phone around in his hands, staring intently at a digital map. There was no wifi around, so a GPS wasn't an option.

The tracking of goblins around the city wasn't exactly the most inspiring hunt they'd been on. For starters, Altissia was like a maze. One set of stairs, a turn, and boom, a sudden wall or a street turning into a canal without any warning. Even Ignis was getting confused, but he blamed it on regaining his sight. There were no cars around this place, boats far more useful and Noctis had wondered if Cid was there or not, waiting for them in Regis' boat or hanging out in some pub. But the boat was on neither of the docks they passed by.

They were about to start arguing after hitting another dead end, only to hear hissing and screech noise, soon followed by a horde of goblins. The fight was over in a flash, the ugly creatures far too weak to present a real threat to either of them. It was still good to work as a team, because since the Leviathan covenant fiasco, they had barely trained together. Noctis had had trouble summoning his royal arms without wondering if he shouldn't have done better on his first try. If it hadn't been for Luna, he'd never won against the tide-mother.

The thought made him wonder if he was strong enough to even try and save her this time around. Shouldn't he go out and train some more? But more travelling back and forth in the fabric of time would only put more stress on his friends.

"That makes seven of them, right?" Prompto asked him.

"Yeah… We should report to our tipster," he answered, trying to regain his sense of direction.

"Things must really have gotten bad for the daemons to show up in this town despite the repelling lights." Gladiolus commented.

Noctis could only agree with his bodyguard on this. The Scourge was turning into a nightmare.

…

Umbra met up with them in the Leville, making the guys wonder how Noctis was able to contact the dog without so much as a whistle.

"You're sure you wanna go back?" the prince asked them.

"We need a clear understanding of our options. Or as clear an understanding as we can get." Ignis stated.

"Alright. Let's go back Umbra."

A bark and almost as quickly as the first time, they found themselves stumbling on the single street of Cartanica station. Ignis' scars were back and for an instant, he felt the panic surging as he blinked his right eye a bit too quickly, desperately trying to find the pictures that had been clear as day...

"Hey man, it's okay…" Prompto tried to comfort him.

"I'm fine," he retorted, but his breathing was too fast and he didn't brush off the hand that awkwardly clapped on his back.

Gladiolus didn't know what to do with him. The poor man barely knew what to do around either of them at this rate. Too many people had died on his watch. Luna dying had thrown back into his face how fragile and mortal Noctis was despite the collection of powers the young man had gathered.

"Ask someone the time." The advisor reminded them.

"You four just got off this train," the hotel manager told them when asked. "Careful of not staying in the sun too long," he added, clearly thinking they were a bunch of weirdos.

Noctis walked up to an empty bench by the side of the station, Umbra following closely, as if he knew they still needed him. Ignis stayed up, refusing the coddling his friends were giving him and crossed his arms, jaw set firmly. He looked even stiffer than usual.

"Okay guys. We had a full afternoon and part of the night in past Altissia, and time didn't pass here. Which means we won't delay anything by going back."

"But we still don't know if the changes we make to the past are permanent." Gladiolus pointed out.

"What if they're only permanent for us?" Ignis observed.

"Luna has to be able to travel via Umbra's power too. It's as much her dog as mine." Noctis opposed. "We won't know for sure unless we try. And if I leave you back here, time will pass for you and not for me."

"You're not leaving anyone behind. We started this thing as a team." Prompto remarked.

"So we go back?" Gladio deduced. "That Camilla lady didn't let you see your Oracle the first time around."

"I won't be asking this time."

There was a dangerous look in Noctis' eyes. As if he was ready to try anything and risk everything. Prompto swallowed nervously.

…

Ignis tried to brace himself for it. He didn't open his eyes immediately. He tried to feel the tug of the broken and melted skin on the left side of his face as he twitched his muscles. Tried to determine what was happening to him during the brief travel. It was like an absence. Everything was dark and empty, a jumble of noises and scents he couldn't recognize unless he took time to focus on each and every of them one by one. And now the sounds were all wrong. As though an ambient noise covered it. But it was the redness of the light through his eyelids. A noise in his sight. A scent stuck in his eyes. He looked around him. Saw the paved streets, the sun reflecting on the water.

This wasn't going to last, so he had to absorb everything he could. To replace the last pictures burned on his retina. But he still needed to blink. Every time, those mili-seconds seemed to last too long. Darkness wasn't welcome. And somehow, as he tried to stay standing as straight as before, he understood what the fear inside was. He wanted to get lost among those streets. He wanted Umbra to run away and never come back. Because going back to the present, his present, meant he'd be blind again. Unreliable. Broken. Unless they could save his eyes too. But he didn't want to hope. Hoping meant welcoming more weakness and he had felt weak enough during the last few weeks.

 _Just take what you have now_ , he told himself.

"Iggy?" Prompto asked.

"Have you been skipping meals?" the advisor shot back.

"You must be itching to cook us something new, huh?" Gladio laughed.

Noctis didn't know what to think. There was unease in each of his friends and he was too anxious himself to be of any help.

"Was that test enough? I don't think we should go back and forth more than we need to."

"It's refreshing to see you so eager…" His shield observed.

Ignis didn't like the looks Prompto was sending his way. He wasn't one to depend on others, being the most reliable member of their party.

"We need to figure out a plan before to rush anywhere. To determine what happened when."

"I just want to know where Luna is. We find her and we snatch her away."

Gladiolus bit his tongue, knowing the prince was in no shape to be teased.

"And then what, can anyone from this time go to our present? It would be the future for them. I mean her. My head hurts." Prompto complained, gripping his skull with both hands.

"I'll start by taking with her." Noctis declared.

It didn't take them too long to locate the first secretary's mansion. Knowing when they were was another story. They'd looked for the boat in the docks and hadn't found it. Cid wasn't supposed to leave so fast. Calling people they knew didn't work, but the sheer distance combined with the frail balance of the satellites keeping their phones working sounded as good an explanation as time travel for the radio silence. They could contact each other, which was already a good thing. But could they believe the date and hour on their cells?

"This is quite puzzling. How about we check if that hunt is still complete?" Ignis suggested.

And as a matter of fact, it was. Or maybe the tipster didn't need their help for it anymore, since goblins didn't roam the street in this timeline.

"There could be multiple timeline. You remember that show we watched last year?" Prompto insisted.

Noctis was adamant on meeting Lunafreya, and as much as the others were worried about his reaction if he was to lose her again, they followed him up to the first secretary's estate. The guards outside warned the prince Lady Camilla was too busy to meet him. Passersby couldn't be bothered with questions and as Prompto mentioned how weird Cid's absence was for the nth time, Noctis snapped. He warped to a railing, jumped up a balcony and warped again, his friends aghast as he broke every rule a visiting prince had to follow in a foreign country ruled by one invading empire.

"What does he think he's..!"

A guard seemed confused and Ignis was quick to shut up Gladiolus' outraged exclamation. For reasons the strategist couldn't explain, no one seemed to care for the sudden warps. Everyone went on with their life, passing around them as though they were mere passersby themselves. The guards only minded them if they were directly addressed and that meant Noctis might just get inside undetected.

But the apathy looked like a warning. This was the past, but like Prompto had said, it wasn't forcibly their past. If they'd seen each other sitting at a restaurant's terrace for lunch, Ignis would be convinced. But Umbra's power might only be to give them a reflection of the past. Suspending them in time and stimulating their brains into thinking they had travelled back. Which didn't explain his sight. Or the fatigue he felt after walking all over the city gathering intel.

 _Never explain magic with science or logic,_ he reminded himself.

Prompto, Gladiolus and Ignis walked away from the entrance, whispering to themselves:

"We need to find a way inside and catch up with him before he does something even more inconsiderate," Gladiolus declared.

"And how do you suggest we…?" Prompto's voice died down as he noticed the look the king's shield was giving him.

"You should be small enough to struggle inside through a side window. I can launch you high enough to reach that bridge they made two stories up," Gladiolus insisted, his imperious index pointing upward.

Ignis scowled, but didn't interfere with the plan. They needed a way in, and moreover, a way out. Noctis couldn't cause a political incident, even in the past. The empire had waited for the smallest sign to strike back at the prince. How were they supposed to know they weren't being watched at this very moment, with the troops under Ravus Nox Fleuret's command waiting to rain fire and hell on Accordo?

…

Noctis slipped into an empty room, phasing through walls to search the place faster. Luna was Accordo's "guest", but he knew she was their prisoner. All the MTs patrolling the hall was only a confirmation. The empire refused to let her walk too far and couldn't possibly release the security around her now. It was hard to tell how she'd even managed to sneak away and into Insomnia while he was on the roads, pining for her, ignorant of the horrors happening back home.

Her voice as she spoke of hope and a future for the world before every citizen in Accordo was imprinted in his mind. Strong, pure. Like the words she used to comfort him in their letters. He couldn't go back to silence. He would drown in all the syleblossoms of his recurring nightmare.

 _She was waiting for me. Always waiting for me._

Until he'd grow up enough, until he was strong enough to play his role as chosen king, so she could play her own role as his link to the Astrals. Never waiting for him to save her, never even expecting him to. All those years for a thousand words and one single glance.

He nearly stepped into Camilla's office and phased right back, starting to wonder if he'd search the other rooms as methodically as he'd hoped. Luna had to be here. If she wasn't, what was the use even lending him Umbra's help?!

Noctis quickly went back on his steps, trying to confirm the number of floors in this building. He was already desperate when he'd decided to give his crazy idea a try, but he didn't want to give up yet.

He broke the fourth ether's flask, evading more MTs and stepping into a new room, as richly decorated as the others. This estate was nearly as bad as the Citadel when it came to secret rooms. His eyes fell on white fabric and platinum hair, turning wider as he held his breath. A wide dog was lying by her feet, the Oracle huddled in a love seat, fingertips nearly blue, skin too pale and looking even thinner, veins showing through. Her eyes were closed and her chest slowly went up and down, following her breathing.

For an instant, Noctis couldn't believe it was her. Truly standing across the room, fast asleep but alive. His feet couldn't move fast enough, the smile on his face was certainly too eager for a first meeting in 12 years. Pryna looked up, ears standing up on her head as she recognized him. Her movements were slow as the dog walked around, giving him the space to kneel in front of Luna's thanked the Six a second, reaching out to her wrists, gently shaking her awake. Her skin was cold to the touch, and she looked fragile as she eyelids parted open. Eyes red. Lost. A gasp rose from her lips, which he covered with one hand, instantly shushing her down.

MTs were just outside the door.

"It's me," he whispered to her.

"How?! Why are you here?" Luna muttered back.

Her eyes filled with tears and his heart clenched in answer. A thousand words needed to be said and their hands tentatively held as their eyes remained locked together. He wanted to pull her in an embrace, to check her pulse and cry and laugh. She wanted to touch his hair, stroke his face, bear her heart to him. But the situation called for swift actions before someone noticed his intrusion.

"I can't explain here."

"You can't take me away, Noct."

"Like hell I can't!" he retorted, pulling her to her feet with more force than intended.

She blinked in shock and nearly fell to her knees, her legs too numb to hold her. Instantly, Noctis' arms were steadying her, the half embrace as foreign as it was welcome after all this time apart.

"Luna?"

"Why didn't you warn me?" she asked.

"Warn you?"

"I didn't intend for you to see me like this," Lunafreya sighed.

And as much as he wanted to shrug it off, there was something wrong with her. She felt too light, she was thin, thinner than in her recent pictures. Dark bags circled her eyes.

"Can this wait until I get you out of here?"

"I have a speech to make tomorrow," she objected, her hands pushing against his shoulders.

He'd be damned if he'd let her away from him now that he'd found her back and held her even tighter, while still keeping her at arm's length. Luna frowned in confusing, turning her own statement around in her head.

"Or was it yesterday? There's been something wrong with time lately…"

"Was there? Maybe you can clear up a few things for us then. We travelled back in time with Umbra."

"You wha…?!"

She nearly screamed this time, the surprise turning into apprehension and brought one hand to her mouth, her legs numb for an entirely different reason. A shiver ran through her, Noctis doing his best to hold back the whole reason of his travel. He didn't want to freak her out and was there any need to…?

"So, I died," Lunafreya stated. "During the covenant, I guess?"

Her voice was cold and even, nearly resolute. Noctis' emotions were ready to run wild, his heart a quivering, aching mess. From up close, he could tell she had been in no shape to face an Astral, let alone confront the tide-mother.

"I'll tell you everything you want to know, but only if we get away from here first. I can't…"

Her tears rolled down as she saw the pain in his eyes, mixing with the need to hold her safe and sound. How much she'd longed for his arms, to see him face to face again. And now she knew why she'd never gotten the chance. They just weren't meant to…

"I really can't lo…"

Her fingertips silenced his plea, brushing his lips, lingering on his chin. He still looked so young.

"I'll go with you. But I might not…"

Her words failed her as she tried to convey the sad truth. Noctis wouldn't hear it. It was too soon. Maybe she could permit herself this hope, even for only a few hours? Pryna whined at their feet, distressed by the conflicting emotions in her mistress.

"Are you strong enough for this? I have a few elixirs on me," Noctis offered.

"I was just tired. I'm…"

A violent cough hacked through her lungs, bending her in two and the prince could almost see the truth for what it was. A few strands of hair stuck to her face. Her forehead was too warm for comfort.

"You need a doctor," Noctis stated, worry laced into every gesture he made toward her.

His hand replaced her hair, ran down her neck to trace comforting circles over her back. Her breathing calmed down, her cheeks flushing a bit. She didn't want to be treated like a doll, or something that could break. Not by him.

"I can follow you, Noct."

He wanted more of his name on her tongue, with the delightful way she toyed with the nickname. Heck, if time went by differently around here, he might even have the time to reacquaint himself with her properly.

"I won't give you a chance to fall behind," he told her. "But you don't have to play tough anymore, okay?"

"I wasn't playing…"

"I know, Luna. Just let me do the saving this time. Be like a prince for once…"

Her smile erased the dark hollows on her face.

"I've been wishing to be with you for so long," she admitted, squeezing his hand.

 _I'll keep you with me this time,_ he swore to himself. _We'll get you fixed and better and nothing bad will ever reach you again._

It was a childish promise, but he was still much more child than man in his heart. This time around, things would be different. He'd do everything else the Astrals expected from him, he'd get over the other losses.

 _Let her stay alive. Without her light, I'll never find my path._

To be continued…

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The angst will only grow from here. I think this fic is going to follow a bittersweet path. I expect to give Noctis and Luna a lot of time to reconnect and I want to see how they manage with the circumstances. And what will happen with the bros thinking their best friend might just have his happy ending, while they have no idea what's happening with their loved ones outside of Noctis.

Reviews motivate me and I might try to finish this story soon, since it's going to stay quite short. Be sure to let me know what you think. Lots of fluff in next chapter!


	3. Be with me

Angst! And confusion. I have the impression it's the best way to describe this chapter. I really wanted to produce a new chapter for this story. We have fluff in there, if you bear with me through this roller coaster of emotions. The chocobro have a really light participation here, as Noctis and Luna tries to clear a few things up. Enjoy!

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Calling Umbra

Chapter 2 – Be with me

Her hand was frail beneath his. Her shoes hadn't been designed with running in mind and it was only because she insisted that he didn't haul her on his shoulder and make a run for it with a few warps. She looked light enough for him to pull it off, but Luna wouldn't force all the efforts on him. It was already a lot that she'd agreed to follow despite having the impression she was shirking on her duties. Prompto popping his head past a door and waving them to a balcony suite was the second best surprise of the day for Noctis. Pryna followed and instantly recognized the gunman, emitting a low but happy bark as he lifted her in his arms.

"You've really grown, girl," he bemused, scratching her head before to give a sheepish look to Luna. "I didn't mean to do that, I just really love dogs."

"And all type of animals," Noctis added.

The teasing came naturally and the light but genuine smile on Luna's face made him feel so much better. This had been all he wanted. A real reunion. The chance to present her to his friends. Footsteps echoing down the hall brought them back to reality and Prompto held Pryna closer, as though to protect her, Noctis instinctively putting himself between Luna and the hallway.

"This way, guys," the gunman declared, taking off into a run.

Luna was already out of breath by then and Noctis apologize before lifting her in his arms as gently as possible. She was far too light for comfort and his throat tied up at the idea she could already be sick. Was that what she had tried to say earlier? Was that why she let the Hydraen talk back to her, why she didn't hold on until…

 _Focus._

Luna's hand was clinging to his jacket and her head kept bumping against his chest. He wanted to take the time to wonder how soft her hair felt, he wanted…

 _Focus!_

His legs were on fire as they reached the small window by which Prompto had snuck in. The gunman was already half out and both men helped Luna out, the princess staggering on her feet and the shaky rooftop.

"It's okay, Lady Luna, Gladio will catch you. And then… he'll catch us," Prompto added, sounding slightly mortified by the notion.

Noctis warped to the ground, his heart too tight in his chest. He needed so many answers yet, but the sight of Luna held by his Shield and friend took him by surprise. Somehow, it made her look so much more real. Each of his friends looked just as shocked, but it was the princess who took over.

"Gladiolus? Thanks for the catch. I… I know I look pale, but you can put me down and help Prompto."

There was a blush on her cheeks, embarrassment for her poor appearance as she finally got to meet his friends. Ignis kept a lookout on the nearby street, refusing to process what was happening. Travelling back in time was one thing. But he'd seen the Oracle's body with his own eyes. His thoughts were close to unraveling as logic betrayed him. If she could be here, if she could leave with them. What else could be changed? What else could be fixed?

Noctis put an arm around Luna to steady her, Gladio signaling Prompto for his own jump. The gunman leaped, hoping Pryna wouldn't get hurt in the process. There were too many questions on their minds, but Ignis refused to let them linger. They agreed to wrap Luna in Noctis's parka, with the hood pulled up, leading her away from the first lady's manor. They barely exchanged a word, focusing on potential pursuers or complications. No one seemed interested in either of them, not even with the odd choice of clothing for their fifth companion. Reaching the Leville took only a few minutes, but it felt like hours. Luna's pace was slow, almost painfully so and the guys exchanged worried glances.

What was wrong with her?

Prompto already wondered if altering the timeline wasn't slowly erasing her, scratching at Pryna's ears in an attempt to comfort himself. Gladiolus was worried of what losing the princess for a second time could do to Noctis. Ignis kept all of his thoughts at bay, good or bad, focusing on their path and the many people in the streets. He was looking for someone familiar, someone out of place. He was starting to wonder if this couldn't be a really elaborate trap from one twisted chancellor…

But they reached the Leville safe and sound, although Luna was about ready to collapse when she saw the stairs. She was far too warm under the parka and Gladiolus took it upon himself to carry her to their room, while Ignis made some quick arrangements to take a second room. The strange feeling didn't vanish when the five of them was finally sitting between four walls, the Oracle freed from the large coat. Noctis wanted to sit right next to her, but his nerves were slowly getting the better of him.

Luna had been given water and food, not to mention a remedy that took care of her fever, much to the prince's relief. She set down her glass, leaning back in her seat, her hands clasped in her lap as she gazed at the four men. She didn't know what to think or how to break the ice, but the silence was eating away at her patience. An anxious feeling grew deep inside her as the minutes passed. She'd never thought Umbra's power could be used like this. Never thought that her only chance at meeting Noctis's friends…

"I'd like to thank you for… rescuing me." The word sounded foreign in her mouth and she steeled her heart. "I really wanted to meet you in better conditions. I have no idea what you went through to get here. I don't know how I died or…"

Gladiolus cursed, while Prompto turned whiter than a sheet and Ignis blinked, his mouth falling open.

"Luna…"

"I knew it might happen, Noct," she retorted. "And there's no need to pretend otherwise. Maybe was it meant to be that way."

"I didn't come here to hear you were destined to die protecting me!" Noctis snapped.

Luna flinched and the silence which followed was heavier than the last one. Ignis cleared his throat, even though he doubted anyone could ease such tension.

"It would be preferable to clear a few things about this time travel… _thing_ before we try to determine what happened in our future and whether it's fate or not. We're all emotional about what happened in Altissia," he reminded them.

Luna nodded, worrying her lower lip despite her strict upbringing.

"I'll answer your questions as best as I can," she assured.

Noctis wanted to ask her if she could leave with them, but he was too afraid of her answer.

"How far back can Umbra take us?" Gladio asked.

It wasn't the worst question he could have chosen to kick things off.

"A couple of months," Luna stated. "He didn't develop that power until Noctis had gathered a handful of royal arms, and I never got around to test it directly. I saw what Umbra saw as he travelled in a few dreams… The further back in time he goes, the harder it gets for him to come back."

"How long can we stay in the past?" Ignis inquired.

Lunafreya gave it some thought, glancing at her loyal dogs, sleeping on one of the beds of the suite. Umbra's muzzle was under Pryna's front paws. She'd never heard the dark shiba inu whine with such distress as they'd walked into the room.

"As far as I know, there's no time limit. And Umbra comes back at the very second he has left, so time doesn't lapse in the present. But stay too long and you'll grow older, which might gather attention when you suddenly have gray hair and a beard."

"We found you," Prompto observed, "but we aren't able to reach anyone from Lucis by phone or even mails. We couldn't locate Cid in the port, but the man should be there at this time."

"I… Understanding how this works with the people in the past is the hardest part for me. Umbra can't interact with people like we do. From what I've seen, the people in the past are… stuck in a loop. It's as if time had stopped for them. I can't tell you what day we are or for how long I've waited for the day of my speech. It's supposed to be tomorrow, but the hours passed and passed again…"

She looked distressed now and Noctis felt bad for putting her through this. He didn't want to worry about the current situation. He just wanted to hold her and tell her everything in his heart while he still could.

"Would you say that could be the reason why the people barely bother with us?" he asked her instead. "I snuck up inside that mansion and no one chased after us. The guards stopped listening to us even when we were causing a bit of a ruckus too…"

"It's true that most of the people I've seen were a bit… absent."

"But that doesn't apply to you, since you're already sensitive to Umbra's magic…" Ignis deduced.

"Okay, we need to address the elephant in the room." Gladiolus declared, holding back a sigh. "I can tell Noctis is this close to losing his shit, pardon my language, princess. Are you stuck here, in this time loop, or can you come with us? And if so… what's the catch?"

Luna wrapped her arms around herself without even realizing it.

"I honestly don't know. But the very reason that brought you here is the fact I…"

Her voice faltered and for an instant, the dignified princess and strong Oracle was gone, leaving behind a terrified woman. Her shoulders shook, and she hid her face in her hands.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Luna, that's enough," Noctis pleaded with her.

"Don't you understand, Noct? If you take me with you, I don't die and if I don't die, you don't come here to get me in the first place. I'll surely vanish in between the travel and then you will try it again, over and over, until it breaks you and the scourge…"

Noctis's face was ashen and the only reason why he wasn't standing next to her was because she'd sapped the will to move from him with her words.

"That's not…"

"How does any of that shit makes sense!"

"Whoever goes back when we leave for the present, our travel through time will still have happened," Ignis pointed out. "It's our second trip already and the things we did the first time were still done when we came back. But we didn't come back any later or earlier."

Prompto looked like a kicked puppy by then and Luna struggled to pull herself together.

"I don't know what will happen if you try to leave for the present with me," she quickly said. "I don't think the Astrals gave Umbra this power in such a goal. But things could also work out. I just…"

She tried to dry her tears, but they kept flowing down her cheeks and every man in the room could tell how furious she was against herself for being this shaken. But who wouldn't be when faced with their own demise?

"Can you guys give us some time," Noctis asked his friends.

Prompto nearly sprung to his feet in his eagerness to move. Anything to chance his mind from this awful situation they were in. How unfair would it be to Noctis and Luna if they were forced to part when this time travel had given them a second chance?

Ignis and Gladiolus were just as quick, giving either a curt nod or light bow to the Oracle. The door clicked behind them and Noctis couldn't sit still any longer. His steps were soft but purposeful. When he kneeled in front of her, Lunafreya felt the urge to cross her arms over her chest, as though it could help her keep the sobs inside. She'd wanted to see him so much, almost at every waking moment. But now he was here, and she couldn't smile, she couldn't be herself, not with the idea life would take him away so soon.

"I'm sorry I didn't… take the time to worry about what this would do to you," he started, his voice shifting with emotions he could barely contain. His hands reached up and she saw his hesitation in the quiver of his outstretched fingers. "Is it okay if I touch you?"

The sobs threatened to take over and she nodded, more like a tremble than a nod really. It was taking all her willpower to keep her breathing remotely steady. His hands covered her knees, the pressure barely there.

"Do you remember how… we kept wishing we could meet? The places we would have visited in Tenebrea. In Insomnia. When I met Titan, I realized you'd been there before me and something inside…"

… _snapped._

"Noct, please."

Her hands tentatively reached for his. A squeeze, a brief caress. Her fingers were cold. He gently covered her hands with his, kissing her fingertips. For an instant, he seemed to be praying and Luna couldn't handle the silence anymore.

"I remember. I remember every word. They were my lifeline."

But it hadn't been enough. And how could it be anyway?

"I'm here now," he told her. "I don't want to believe I could lose you again. Any burden is fine, but…"

"Can you tell me what happened?" Luna asked him.

Noctis looked up at her, his eyes widening, a shuddering breath escaping his lips.

"I… I couldn't… I… First it was Leviathan and I think she broke my back, but then you…"

His shoulders shook and all the resolve Lunafreya had build up in her life seemed ready to vanish. Her throat was tied up, but she swallowed and tried to make him see why her life was expandable.

"You have to understand, whatever happened…"

"I should have been stronger! It was always you, facing everything in my stead… You were in Insomnia when the empire attacked. You were always one step ahead of me. And when I finally caught up to you…"

He wanted to hold her, to hide, to shake some sense into her. Didn't she want to live? Didn't she want to be with him for just a few days? But the tidal wave of emotions inside him raged too strongly and the trembling took over.

She soon felt his tears through her skirt and stroked his hair as he curled up in her lap, crying like a lost child. Luna couldn't utter a word. She didn't know any prayer that could mend this pain. But she held him, hoping this comfort would be enough. She'd seen him cry before, maybe once or twice. Tears of physical pain and shame. But his hands had been smaller, his body broken, not his heart. This was so much worse.

"I wanted to protect you this time," he managed, voice muffled and hoarse.

"I'm here now."

His following sob could have shattered her if she didn't feel already so weak. But she held on to him as he held on to her and after a dozen more touch in his unruly locks or his trembling shoulders and the worst of it finally subsided. Noctis dared to look up to her, sniffling despite his best effort and his only comfort was the fact she was crying too.

"I didn't come here to beg for comfort like… I'm sorry," he breathed out.

"We need to stop apologizing."

"Okay." He felt embarrassed as he wondered how childish he looked, answering her with a mere okay. "I'll hold you to that."

Her smile was awfully frail as she decided to push her worries aside. She wouldn't hold him back, but it didn't mean they couldn't enjoy their improbable reunion.

"Could you simply hold me?" Luna asked him.

She didn't have to ask him twice. He got to his feet, wincing just a bit after kneeling for so long. She wanted to inquire about his health, about his bad leg, but his hands were pulling her up and his arms delicately wrapped around her. This time she could relish the closeness, the warmth exuding from him, the thundering sound of his heart under her hands as she clasped to his shirt. She hid her face against his neck, her own tears slowly drying as relief filled her up.

"I'm glad you came," Luna whispered.

"Really? The way you've been talking so far…"

"It's not like I wanted to die without ever getting to see you again."

His hands tensed on her waist and she gasped, which instantly drew him away from her.

"I hurt you…"

"I'm not usually that tender," she sighed, rubbing her ribs with an expression that looked close to annoyance.

Noctis wasn't sure if he could take any more bad news, but he squared his shoulders and asked her if anything was wrong.

"I've been… getting weaker recently. Ravus believes I can still get better, but I've seen enough illnesses to know…"

"So what, you can't be cured? Why are you even sick?"

Her lips thinned to a mere line and her eyes held a dozen apologies as she offered him a straight answer.

"The covenants put a strain on me. And so does… wait, where is it?!"

Her pocket was empty and she seemed ready to panic as she fumbled for whatever trinket… Noctis's eyes widened as realization hit.

"My father's ring?"

"Yes, I was keeping it for you, I thought…"

"I have it here," Noctis cut her off, raising the Lucii ring for her to see. "It made you ill?"

His voice was sharp, and her shoulders fell inward.

"Please, don't blame yourself. It's not only the ring or the covenants. The scourge is also growing stronger and it's getting harder to keep it at bay."

Noctis wasn't sure how to accept that. The fact she was under so much pressure, while he carelessly travelled all over Lucis, discovering his country and enjoying himself with his friends.

"You should have told me," he told her.

"What's done is done."

"Have you seen a doctor?"

Luna wasn't sure if she should feel offended.

"What?!"

"I'm not trying to doubt you, but for this whole day, you've been voicing nothing but self-sacrificing thoughts. As if your fate was already sealed."

She had an objection, but he erased the distance between them, grabbing her shoulders with a firm but gentle grip.

"You said you were eager to see me. You were waiting for me. But was it all to die once I finally got here?!"

She flinched, but didn't look down.

"No, I would never… I wanted to be with you. I shouldn't even talk in past tense, you're here and I'm here. I want to be with you. I've been so afraid I could lose my resolve when I'd finally see you. You're the one thing…"

Her hands reached for his arms and the pain mixing with relief was too much to bear. He could see her conflicted feelings in her eyes. He remembered how Luna used to be dignified and too serious for a 12-year-old girl. She hadn't changed. Her duty was her reason to live, the one thing keeping her moving forward through the good and all the bad. But his friendship had helped her too, given her that one, personal hope for something that could belong only to her. He almost heard the voice she used to write in their notebook. The colors she'd chosen flashed under his eyelids as he blinked. Always warm, gentle colors that soothed him. One of his hands ran down her arm, the other one cupping her face. It took a few seconds for her to lean into the touch, but when she did, she pulled him closer.

"I've lost you twice already," he reminded her. "I need real time with you. Not a smile and a few nice words, or a killer ring."

She seemed ready to apologize, but he shook his head, their nose brushing at the movement.

"Tell me what you want. What you need. Not out of duty."

His breath was reaching her lips and it would have taken only a few inches to finally…

"You," she confessed. "I need you."

A fragile grin showed in his eyes. Her arms had wrapped around his neck and he felt almost bold enough to take the final step, but there was still an important question on his mind.

"Will you come with me?"

"I'll try. Noct, can you give me this moment at least?"

He couldn't believe the blush on his cheeks or the new panic in his heart. Was it really the time to get flustered and shy? But the woman he loved and had thought lost forever was in his arms. Telling him many things he didn't want to hear. He focused his thoughts on his current present. She wanted him. Luna wanted him. He stroked her neck, suddenly feeling unsure. Wouldn't it make things harder if she couldn't follow him?

"There's something I never told you in our book," he whispered, bracing himself. "I love you."

Her smile grew full and he kissed her reply silent, unable to hold back the furious emotions whirling around his heart. Her lips were soft, almost too soft to be real. But her light gasp as he backed her up against the nearest wall was sign enough that she was real. He felt her fingers in his hair. Pulling, shuffling, ruffling. It was hard to find the right rhythm. Neither of them were sure what to do. They wanted to hold on each other until time grew too old to keep any hold on her. Or him.

As he parted from her and asked whether this was okay, Luna couldn't help her laugh, which nearly stopped Noctis cold. But his self-aware eyes spotted a spark in her gaze and her hands pulled him right back to her.

"You've kept me waiting for so long. You had better make up for it," she teased him.

Had she always been the bolder of them two? He didn't stay baffled for long, stealing her lips for another kiss, growing a bit surer in his gestures as she melted between his arms. There was an urgency beneath every caress, and the taste of desperation on her tongue, but he forced those thoughts away. Focusing on nothing but her.

Heat under her skin. The beat of her heart, too fast, but steadier than his. The feel of her breath mingling with his. Her nails down his neck and the way she pulled him even closer. His hands couldn't remain in a single spot as he pressed his body against hers, trying to remain attentive to any sign of pain. Noctis wanted to touch her hair, her neck, her shoulders, her face, to hold her waist so their hips could brush, run his fingers over her sides. He wanted to find a shiver that made her tremble with something good, something fresh and non-threatening. And much to his surprise, Luna wanted more.

It might have been the knowledge of her future demise. It might have been the panic from running away from her most recent captors. It might have been the exhilaration to find herself in the arms of her fiancé and childhood friend. Had he set something lose when he'd suggested she should forget about duty for once?

Luna couldn't let go of him, couldn't get enough. She had been afraid intimacy would feel awkward, after 12 years apart and meeting again as adults instead of children. But he'd travelled through time to see her. And if she was living her last days on Eos… Let's say she had a right to turn them around and push him against the wall, letting out the many feeling she'd held back.

"I love you too."

"You don't say," he chuckled before to feel her mouth back on his.

His hands on her were trembling by then, his heart fully open. He felt alive. More than alive. And for now, she was still…

Their thoughts almost melted together.

 _This time, I'll save you._

 _I won't stay behind. I'll follow you this time._

To be continued…

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So then, I hope the chocobros aren't too close to the door of that room. I had half a mind to interrupt our favorite royals, but that would have been mean. I hope Pryna and Umbra won't be too traumatized when they wake up.

I decided to make that Luna a bit more direct for the fluffier parts of the story. She's older than Noctis and with the situation at hand, I think she would throw caution to the wind regarding a lot of things. Although it took time before she stopped repeating that her destiny was to die. D:

With all that said, I must head to bed, I'm dead on my feet. Please, leave me reviews. I feed and thrive on them. :D


	4. We have now

I was inspired! And I also believe it would be possible for me to finish this story faster than Unexpected. XD So here's another chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it. Fluff and angst on the menu today. Ignis gets back under the spotlight too. He is tagged as one of the main character after all.

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Calling Umbra

Chapter 3 – We have now

His kisses were so desperate and sweet, Luna wondered if she could remain sane. His hands held her with a need she had never guessed in his letters. Something inside her wanted to burst, to rush up to the surface and she was shocked by the sound coming from her. The gasps and moans and needy whines. But he didn't judge her, he really couldn't, raw fear and need taking over his better judgment.

"Noctis, I can't… I can't stand up for much longer," she admitted, her voice transformed by the many feelings rushing through her veins.

"Maybe we should…"

"Please don't stop," she begged him as he tried to catch his breath.

His arms held her and next thing she knew, he was lifting her up, struggling a bit to keep her feet from the floor while still kissing her. Their smiles melted together, and they wanted to laugh and cry. It felt perfect, and also too intense, but like coming home and finally finding the one thing that had been missing. Her hands had pulled his shirt out of his pants, his jacket was given up on the floor and the rush was driving him crazy. This was the reunion he'd been itching for. How many dreams had he woken from, left wanting, wondering, worrying… He'd been scared about the wedding, scared about her eyes on him. A part of him wished he knew what he was doing instead of running entirely on instinct, but she felt right in his arms. But the rest of his soul was too relieved he could finally connect with her, finally feel her arms and her hands.

His legs took them across the room, his brain only half functioning as he dropped himself on a couch. Luna instinctively straddled him, blushing as he groaned his approval. By the gods, wasn't this wrong? Her heart was beating too fast and she doubted her weakened state would permit much more of this… wanton behavior. This felt too quick, maybe too rushed, but she liked how messy she acted, how improper it looked.

"You know, I really… really didn't mean for our first meeting to…"

He held her waist, one hand running up her spine, leaning his head down to ghost a trail of kisses along her neck, tentatively testing her reaction to this new touch. Luna instantly held him closer, legs tensing, breath shuddering. Her voice melted into a moan. And as much as he liked the impression it gave him, his self-doubt came running back.

"Don't fake it," he asked her.

"What?"

"I… I don't know half of what I'm doing, so don't feel… obliged to fake anything to make me happy or something," the prince explained through his ragged breaths.

Their eyes met then and Lunafreya cupped his face, her smile gentler than before.

"Why do you think I would…?"

"You managed that smile on every picture they took. Even in your letters…"

Something shifted inside as she realized how perceptive he always was.

"I won't hide anything from you anymore," she promised. "And you better do the same for me."

The following kiss was softer, tender, but the panic was far too close for either of them to remain in pure tenderness. They were beet red as they parted, a thread of saliva breaking between them, adding to the mix of need and embarrassment they both felt.

"That's…"

Noctis wasn't sure how to describe what was going on in his head. He wanted to talk with her, but it seemed his body had a will of its own.

"I don't remember the last time… I don't think there was a last time… When I felt this safe. And this much alive."

She'd craved love without even realizing it, surviving on her own and now his very touch could erase years of loneliness and fear. How could she be patient after all this time? How could she hold back her voice, when she'd muffled her screams of pain for so long?

"Tell me what you want," he breathed into her ears.

The words eluded her. She was overwhelmed and also somewhat scared. If she had him now, wouldn't it stop? Or should she consider time had stopped for them both? Instinctively, her hands pulled on his shirt, as though the garment offended her and he shrugged it off one sleeve at a time, because prying his hands off her was a lot to ask.

Time hadn't stopped, but it fell upon itself as they slowly discovered how well they could fit in each other arms.

…

Prompto was ready to pull out his hair and Gladiolus had nearly thrown his phone across the room while Ignis sat still, arms crossed over his chest.

"What are we going to do if…" the shield started.

"Don't say it," Prompto begged.

"We'll face the music when and if the time comes," Ignis declared. "I know we're all worried about Noctis. But whatever happens when we go back, he can at least have time with her right now."

"And then what? Won't it make it worse?" Gladio insisted. "He's stalling."

"Are you listening to yourself, dude? Where's your heart?!" Prompto asked, anger showing in his pale eyes.

"We barely pieced him back together once. And I don't think my heart can take doing it all over again."

"Then what, you want to barge in on them and tear'em apart, so he can focus on the scourge and his duty?!" Ignis snapped, getting off his seat to better face the Shield.

"No, whoa, Iggy, get off your high horse."

"I know you think he's stalling and you are right, Gladiolus, Noctis is stalling for time and a reprieve he deserved from the moment we learned what happened to Insomnia and his father! You can't fix him and I'm not saying this will help, but it cannot make him any worse and time is not passing in the present, no matter how ludicrous that sound. So, get off his case for one bloody day!"

Gladiolus blinked at the tactician's outburst, while Prompto had hunched over himself, shocked by the anger transpiring in Ignis's voice.

"This isn't entirely about Noctis, is it?" the gunman asked.

"What?!"

"Gladio was trying to text Iris a minute ago and you were staring at everything around the room. He's worried he might not get news from his sister for as long as we're stuck here, while you Iggy… You're…"

"Prompto…"

"You're trying to come to terms with the fact your eyes won't be fixed even if Luna survives the travel," Prompto finished.

Both Gladio and Ignis cursed at that, because their friend was right. Entirely right.

"Iggy…" Gladiolus started, an apology written all over his face.

"I don't want to hear it."

The following silence was tense, Ignis fighting to regain his countenance to no avail, while Prompto and Gladiolus wondered if anything they could say would make him better. In the present, they had barely addressed his handicap. There had been one argument and Ignis had been the one doing the comforting and the resolving, even though he had to be in far more suffering than either men. Prompto had wanted to know how it'd happened, while Gladiolus couldn't believe the advisor hadn't been more careful about himself.

"I get that you want to deal with this on your own, Iggy," Prompto started after a few more minutes of nervous silence. "But you really don't have to. We're not here only for Noctis. We're all friends."

"Very well. If you want to help, don't look at me like that while I can still see it."

Both men flinched, giving him even more concerned looks. Ignis took off his glasses, wondering if the lens weren't shifting his vision. Adding that awful pity he saw in their eyes. A part of him wanted to throw the damn things across the room, since his perfect vision was nothing but an illusion now. What would he give for his eyesight to be just a few points beneath perfection now? Blinking only fueled his rage and the silence was getting on his nerves and he was angry at himself for the anger he felt at Noctis. The prince had his miracle. And while he owed more than one miracle, Ignis couldn't help his resentment. How petty could he be?

He crossed the room, barely keeping his steps even, Gladiolus jumping on his feet, which instantly resulted in an angry bark from Ignis.

"Let me be, Gladio."

 _At least, while I can still look after myself._

The door shut behind him with a thud, both men deflated by the clear struggle their friend was under.

"Should we really let him… wonder off in this state of mind?"

"I remember you leaving on your own and none of us held you back, even though we were worried," Prompto observed. "He needs time. And it sounds like we finally have some. I just hope…"

"It's Ignis Scientia, Prompto, he won't do anything foolish. At least, nothing too bad."

"You sure?" the gunman asked worriedly.

"What I'm sure of is that we can't let this go unnoticed by our prince. Ignis might talk to him. Or to Lunafreya at least, since he's convinced she won't make it."

"Don't say stuff like that!"

"People don't come back from the death," Gladiolus insisted. "I don't wish Noctis pain, and if she can survive, I'll thank the Astrals and Etro and any deity you put before me… But until I see it with my own eyes…"

"Why are you so damn bitter? I know Altissia was hell, I know we didn't do as much as we should have…"

Gladio started pacing back and forth, trying to muster patience for the younger man. To keep in the guilt ravaging his heart. He couldn't deal with this. He didn't want time to sit back and think about his sorry self. His trials didn't mean anything. The training he gave Noctis was a joke if his prince, his king had to face this sort of monsters. And Prompto was too perceptive for his own good.

"What's your damage?! It isn't about being stuck here, isn't it? You wanted us to push forward so badly."

"I couldn't protect any of you when hell broke loose. Noctis and Ignis almost died and the Oracle actually died while we were struggling to save some civilians with our sorry asses."

Prompto was surprised to hear the truth out of him. Gladiolus had to be even more shaken then he'd first thought.

"Dude, it's not… I don't think anyone could have managed to protect anyone in these circumstances."

"Yeah right."

Gladiolus was convinced his father would have managed. His father would have anticipated the trap. He would have stayed by Noctis's side. He should have…

"What good is going back in time if we can only fix one thing?"

Prompto shifted uncomfortably in his seat. How many times had he wondered about how different his life could have been if… if one thing from his past could be changed. His hand instinctively touched his wristband and before the moment was gone, he voiced what his father had taught him. Way, way back in the past, when life was harder, and plain, plain wrong.

"There are things that we cannot fix… ever. And we have to learn to live with them broken, don't we?"

"Well shit. A lot of good that does me."

It was Prompto's turn to snap at him.

"I'm sorry man, but you can't wallow in guilt about what happened forever! Unless we stay here forever. Now, wouldn't that be grand, heh?"

His bitter laugh made Gladiolus wonder just how deep they were all broken. It was awful to see Noctis in so much pain. To think of everything Ignis had lost. To look at those streets outside, knowing they laid in waste with a pile of corpses in the present. His thoughts couldn't stay rooted, rushing back to Insomnia, imagining his home, the streets of his youth in the same state. Altissia had been an awakening for the Shield. The realization that an evil worse than the Scourge was hard at work and that a small man like him couldn't hope to stop it. Noctis was the only one.

Running a tired hand through his hair, Gladio turned his back on Prompto, holding back his angry words, filled with venom. Pushing his friends away wouldn't change how he felt. But seeing them, hearing them being so desperate…

 _We signed up to witness a freaking wedding. Not to save the damn world._

…

Ignis had no destination in mind when he left. The rational part of his mind wondered if putting any distance between Noctis and him couldn't trigger something regarding this time travel. Couldn't there be a rebound? A limit of how far he could get on his own? He wanted to rush on a boat and sail for Lucis and the roads he knew. He wanted to drive in the Regalia for hours, with his favorite music blaring on the speakers, and ten iced ebonies. He wanted to invade this restaurant's kitchen and take over the cooking, to go through every recipe he'd thought of or learned.

Knowing it would be his last chance for every of these things. He had to mourn ever mastering that Tenebrean pastry Noctis remembered so fondly. He had to accept his fate. He had chosen to wear the ring, knowing full well the risks. He should have died from it. And a dark, dark part of him wished he'd died instead of this.

Couldn't they take anything else? A few fingers, one foot, maybe his taste, or his sense of smell? He'd always been a keen observer, always loved seeing the what was wrong with a setting, a picture, a new dish. It was all gone, leaving him a crippled mess who could barely walk around without his cane. He knew people got by sightless. He knew he might relearn everything from scratch, with the help of muscle memory and his other senses.

But did he want to?

 _It's not like you have a choice_ , he reminded himself.

Despite himself, his feet had taken him back to the first bridge that had broken around him. He studied the pattern of its arches, the color of its tiles. The way the sun drew an intricate design all over it. It was untouched, unbroken, like he felt right now. He pushed himself forward, looking for something, anything that would tell him he wasn't in the past, anything that might hint to the small chance of his sight remaining his.

But that roof was still standing. That tower was still up. This plaza looked much nicer this way. The ground was even under his feet. His mind was reeling as he found himself walking down the steps leading to the altar where Luna had started the covenant. The pillars were damaged by time, but there was no trace of his battle with Ravus Nox Fleuret. No trace of blood on the edge, where Luna's body had slowly vanished into pure light. He summoned his daggers, finding the chips left by his confrontation with Ardyn.

Ignis turned the blade around in his hands. Wondering if maybe, inflicting the wound upon himself in the past might not revert it. A shaking sneaked up his shoulders and he dropped the dagger, scared by his own thoughts.

"I'm whole. I'm still…"

Could he really go back, knowing what a drag he would be for his friends? Who would make sure they ate actual food, and not those cup of noodles Gladio loved so much? Chemical food was nice every once in a while, but Noctis needed better, as did Prompto and Gladiolus. Who would look after them if he needed to be guided around like some old dog?

 _I'm 22. And suddenly I can't walk by myself, I need pointers to get dressed, I…_

Noctis was giving him his sight back temporarily, only to take it away again.

 _Don't be angry at him. You can't be angry with him. You chose this. He didn't ask you to. He didn't ask to be the chosen king, or for Ardyn to…_

A hacked sob threatened to cross his throat and he gritted his teeth, angry at himself. He couldn't remember the last time he'd cried. Tears were inefficient, and he felt broken enough as it was not to add that to his growing list of deficiencies. He should be worrying about Noctis. He should remember the vision the king of olds had given him. But it was too much to bear right now. He didn't give up his entire life to lead Noctis to his own death, for the Six's sakes!

 _He's my baby brother… And losing him would be worse…_

Taking his eyes away was no mercy, even if it meant he wouldn't have to watch Noctis's last moments. They were already playing in a loop in his mind, and it tore him apart.

…

Noctis and Luna lied in each other arms. They'd moved to the bed in a moment of clarity, the caresses and kisses shifting into sweet words as her fatigue got the best of her. The last thing he wanted was to tire her and he was simply glad to be with her, no matter which bridge they would burn or leave unburned. He'd discovered bruises under her dress and might have faltered if she hadn't begged him to hold her and not say a word about her state. So instead, he focused on her smile. On the emotions she awakened in him. On the longing he couldn't fight, couldn't tamper down.

She'd fallen asleep in his arms, but Noctis couldn't drift into slumber, not with the impression he was only borrowing time with her. Every now and then, he took her pulse, with soft, careful gestures. He'd kissed her bruised ribs on one side only, the spot where she'd been stabbed, his heart up in his throat.

Thinking anyone had raised a hand on her. Thinking of how long she'd suffered only to meet a tragic end. While he was living a normal life back in Insomnia.

 _I should have left sooner. I should have saved you before this all started._

"Noct?"

"Did I wake you?" he asked, ready to apologize.

"No… My sleep has been flimsy lately. Are you…" she raised herself on one arm, to take a better look at his face and Noctis tried to smile at her. "You're worrying again, aren't you? Don't linger on the past. Any past. I'm not going anywhere."

"You'd better not. There's so many things…"

She interrupted him with a kiss, glad to see the smile on his face when she moved away.

"Let's take the time we need right now. One or two weeks isn't a lot to ask with everything we went through. I want to hear everything about your trip."

"And you have a lot of things to tell me yourself."

She hid her face against his chest at that, her breath drawing goosebumps from him. Her next words spelled out what he'd been thinking for a good part of his travels.

"12 years was far, far too long."

"At times, I thought my feelings were just wishful thinking on my part," he confessed.

"Me too."

"But then I saw you standing before that crowd. And our eyes met."

"Are you sure… all this isn't only because I died? I was a dream and in a way, I still am. When you'll awaken from it, maybe will you realize I'm not really what you wanted."

"Luna, I forbid you from entertaining such thoughts. I'm not a child anymore. I know you're not perfect. And I'm a bit glad you aren't. It's really nerve-wrecking to even pretend I'm worth your attention."

She bit her lip, holding him tighter in her arms. How could he still doubt himself so much after all this time? After everything he'd accomplished?

"Don't say things like that," she pleaded with him. "You're worth much, much more than a wasted Oracle."

"Luna…" he sighed, his hand covering her hair.

"I was hoping… you could see me at my best," she admitted.

"You don't think I wanted the same? Instead, you had to protect me."

"I don't remember it. It hasn't happened to me yet."

"It won't happen. At least, I don't want…"

His voice broke and she shivered in his embrace.

"Please, don't cry again. I don't think I can hold back my tears if you do. I never wanted you to hurt this bad."

"I know, Luna. I'm just… terrified when I wonder if this isn't the actual dream. You here, talking with me, kissing me back, warm and alive in my arms. When I wake up, you have to still be here."

"I will be," she promised, throat aching from the knot growing inside.

"I'm a clingy mess," he deplored.

Her light chuckle against his neck mended some of the hurt.

"I've been out of love for so long. I think I'll be clingier for much longer than you."

"You won't hear any complaint here."

The silence they shared was soft and comforting. They understood each other so well. Just before to drift back to sleep, Luna whispered words he hadn't expected from her.

"Thank you for taking a risk, coming all the way back for me."

"How is that a risk?!"

"You might not have found me… You took a chance. And I'm glad you did."

"Even though you said…"

"Forget what I said earlier today. I was under shock and trying to hold on to my defenses. I'm glad you came for me."

"I'm so glad I could…"

Noctis was starting to wonder if his voice could ever get back to normal. Or if those heightened emotions would rule his life for the rest of his days. The idea didn't bother him. He would go through twice as much embarrassment if it meant she could be with him.

To be continued…

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Those short chapters are a breath of fresh air when it comes to feeling productive with my writing. And yes, I'm using Ignis's episode for this story. I took that much time to update it that I can, although it really wasn't intended. Might have to go back and check if I didn't put a detail that contradict the events from this DLC. I hope you liked the angst with the chocobro. It was my favorite part of the chapter to be honest. Noctis might be hurting, but his friends are hurting a lot too and I don't want to forget about them.

As always, reviews make me really happy. There should be 5 more chapters to this story from what I had planned, but we'll see how things turn out. Some of you might know that I tend to underestimate the length of my stories… XD


	5. Brothers

Ignis took over this chapter. With Gladio's help. Chocobro angst. I thought I knew exactly where I was taking this fic, but now I don't know anymore. It might end up longer than I first meant to. I can only say that I appreciate your feedback and the reception this story is getting. Enjoy the latest chapter!

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Calling Umbra

Chapter 4 – Brothers

By the time morning came, Prompto was a freaking mess. Like, more than the previous day. He'd called Ignis a dozen times during the night, hoping the man would answer. But he didn't. Gladiolus had doused his own stress in alcohol, with the impression Ignis wouldn't come back before one of them went looking for him. And he wasn't ready to go off and face the steadiest member of their group when he was like this. He could face an angry Ignis. But an Iggy who hurt that bad. That was new for him. Noctis was the best at dealing with his advisor when it came to matter of the hearts, and the Astrals new, usually, it wasn't Noctis doing the advising.

Noctis walked out of the room he shared with Luna in search of his friends. There was a sheepish look on his face, because he expected teasing from them for his time alone with her turning in the rest of the afternoon and the entire night. Finding a distressed Prompto alone in the room the guys were supposed to share was like a cold shower on his little cloud of happiness.

"What's wrong?" the prince asked instantly.

"Hey, Noct, Lady Luna." Prompto replied, forcing a smile. "We've been… a bit on edge. Gladiolus is cranky as hell at the bar and Ignis needed to cool his head a bit. Like… all night long."

"Ignis?! Why didn't you…"

"I called him. And even had Gladiolus calling him. And if you're going to ask me if I thought of warning you, think again. You owed some peace and quiet after all it took to get you two together."

The pair blushed slightly.

"It's really kind of you, Prompto," Luna said. "But I don't want any of you suffering in silence because you're afraid of disturbing Noctis and I."

"Heh, I thought you would say something like that," the gunman sighed. "Thing is, Noctis isn't the only one who lost something in Altissia. I want to help Ignis, but I'm not sure he'll let me."

"What did he…?"

Noctis cursed under his breath. He'd barely worried about Ignis, despite the fact his friend was blind in their present. He was so focused on his pain, on finding Luna, on getting back what had been unjustly taken.

"He's been out the entire night?"

"Could one of you two please tell me what happened to Ignis?" Luna asked, keeping her voice gentle.

"He was hurt, badly. He's blind in our present," Prompto explained, remaining fidgety. "But as you saw yesterday, when we traveled back, he was his old self, right as rain."

Luna paled and exchanged a brief look with Noctis.

"You traveled back and forth once, didn't you? So, he already knows his wounds and handicap are coming back…"

"And as always, he kept his worries to himself…" Noctis whispered.

A part of him wanted to go look for Ignis, but Lunafreya looked too weak to run around the city and the idea of leaving her side was insupportable.

"You should check on him." Luna told him. "I'll stay with Prompto in the meantime."

"Are you sure?"

"I'll protect her with my life, Noct," Prompto vowed, before to hear the Oracle's stomach rumbling and add with a smirk. "I'll also make sure she gets a proper breakfast."

Noctis chastised himself for not worrying about that detail, but he had been torn between his need to spend his entire time with Luna and the fact he needed to explain things to his friends regarding their stay in this time.

"Okay. I'll try not to be too long. If Ignis hasn't turned off his cellphone, I should be able to locate him quickly enough."

"Just go," Luna said.

On the way out, the prince spotted Gladiolus at the bar and frowned. He clearly needed to clear a few things up with his Shield. Walking up to him, Noctis tapped the large man's shoulder, smelling alcohol as his friend slowly faced him.

"Where's your princess?" Gladio interrogated him instantly.

"We're not joined at the hip. What's wrong with you?"

"With me?! Everything's wrong apparently." Gladio scoffed.

"Either you get yourself together, either you tell me what's going on."

"I'm drunk and pissed off. Talking with you is the last thing I want to do."

Noctis felt his patience running thin. It was hard to tell if the man was hurting or simply angry with him and he had enough of his bouts of anger.

"You want to punch me in the face and drag me back to the present, don't you?"

The bartender raised one brow, but after a few seconds, he didn't seem to mind the weird talk of the prince and resumed to check on his other patrons.

"Something like that, yeah," Gladiolus groaned. "I'm a sick bastard and I hate to see you happy."

The sarcasm was like a slap in the face and Noctis lost his edge.

"Gladio, I can't help you if you're like this."

"I don't want your help. I don't need help. Heck, you should get out and make sure Ignis is alright."

"Why didn't _you_ do that?" Noctis asked, taking a seat next to Gladio.

"Because he wouldn't listen to me. It took Prompto telling me what was in my face to even realize what Iggy's going through."

Noctis noticed how his large shoulders were slumped down, and the fact dark circles rimmed his eyes. Gladiolus had been beaten himself up for the entire night, one drink after the other. He could take it, Etro knew it took an absurd amount of liquor for his Shield to tip over. And the man never got drunk. He was too worried about his duty, too much of a professional to allow himself the luxury of an intoxicated brain. Noctis usually had to order him to get drunk, because he didn't like to drink alone and Prompto was too much of a lightweight. Not that Noctis hold his alcohol well, but that wasn't the point.

"Take a remedy or two and come with me. Ignis's your best friend."

"Nope. You're his best friend. I'm the guy keeping his protégé alive. Barely it seems. Lately, it sounds more like I'm the man trying to make your life miserable. And I don't even succeed at that."

To say Noctis felt disheartened hearing his old time bodyguard and friend belittle himself like that would have been an understatement.

"How long do you intend to be like this?"

"How long are we staying?"

Noctis punched him in the ribs, eliciting a tired growl of protest.

"You can't just rush and pretend the guilt will go away. And you need to get your facts straight. You didn't fail me. And you are not, and never have been, making my life miserable."

The prince concluded his sentence by taking the beer Gladio was nursing from his hands.

"Don't patronize me, now. I'm drunk, not crying like a little girl."

"Yeah, cause that's what I do, not you," Noctis sneered at him.

The Shield paled, because as harsh as he might sound, the last thing he wanted was to make one of his friends feel bad. He gave a quizzical look to his prince. He didn't remember ever implying… Unless some of the mindless teasing he subjected him to had crossed a line one time…

"I never said…"

"Wow, I was kidding, and you bit the hook, sinker and line!" Noctis laughed, clapping him on the back.

The hint of a smile showed on Gladio's face. It was good to see Noctis acting more like himself. But the next words Noctis said finally got him to realize he'd outdone himself with the shots and beers.

"You're freaking loud…"

"You're headed to bed. Now. Try not to look too drunk in front of Luna."

Gladiolus gave him a push, more as a teasing gesture than an attack, but he clearly wasn't controlling his strength as well as usual, Noctis forced to hold onto the counter as his seat went sliding over the floor and crashed inside the wall.

"Shit. Do you want an escort up there?"

"I said no patronizing. Go find Iggy. He knows the best hangover cures."

Noctis was reminded he had promised to be back quickly and didn't wait to see how the bartender reacted to his broken stool and damaged wall. Walking outside in the streets of Altissia was pretty surreal and Noctis had to admit, the idea Gladiolus was even letting him go off on his own was new. But this was the past and their enemies were in the present. At least, that's where they were supposed to be. Altissia looked peaceful and for the nth time, the prince wondered where all the imperial ships had gone. They had to have been hiding somewhere, didn't they? Unless this wasn't really the eve of Luna's speech and their covenant. The sun wasn't quite high in the sky, but Luna wasn't used to sleeping in and had waken him up with a feather-like kiss.

There was no way he was going to sleep after that. And now, his mind was wondering what could be going on in Ignis's head.

Taking out his phone, he made a quick check up and was disappointed to see Ignis's signal was offline. He still brought up the man's number and typed on a few digital keys.

 _I'm looking for you. You'd better not let me wander around this city for hours._

The answer took some time, but as the familiar buzzing came, Noctis felt a wave of gratitude for the fact Ignis never brushed him off, no matter what was his own state of mind. Then he frowned at his advisor's answer.

 _The exercise might do you some good._

 _N: Scientia._

 _I: Fine, let's do it your way. I'm on the rooftops. Don't go breaking your neck._

 _N: You could climb down._

 _I: You can warp wherever you want._

 _N: Which rooftop?_

Ignis refused to answer him anymore than that and Noctis could guess the man didn't want to be found. He also didn't want to be difficult though, so he'd conceded that much. It took Noctis a few warps to get himself on a roof, and after climbing just high enough, he had a perfect view of the city. He had to say, no matter the angle, the various canals, the old buildings weaving a web of streets and stairs gave Altissia the makings of something out of a fantasy world. There was a small rainbow near the port from a drizzle falling and something broke deep inside at the idea Ignis was watching these things, maybe for the last time.

Noctis knew how it felt to be crippled. His wheelchair still haunted a few of his dreams and he was terrified of ever losing the ability to walk again. But Ignis had to walk in the dark, losing the light, the colors, the textures. The stars… And all for what?

The prince really wasn't sure how to face Ignis when he finally found him, a few warps later. His advisor was sitting with his back against some unused chimney, looking out into the distance. His clothes were dirty and rumpled from climbing all the way up here. Noctis spotted some dishes lying in a cardboard box and from the looks of them, Ignis had prepared himself a whole feast, somehow.

"Is this your rebellious phase? After all these years?"

Ignis chuckled, leaning his head back against the stone. His glasses were gone, and he looked younger. Almost too young. Noctis couldn't remember the last time he'd looked at his advisor and saw him for what he was instead of his mentor, teacher, and caregiver. Ignis had always been a part of his life. Not unlike a piece of furniture resisting time. The thought pained him, because he had been taking his friend for granted. And he wasn't sure he owed such a sacrifice…

"I barely realized how nice the city looked when we first visited," Ignis whispered.

Noctis swallowed, unsure of the way he should breach the subject.

"I didn't allow you much sightseeing… Mind if I join you?"

"It's a free state. Or so said that lady Camilla."

Noctis sat next to him, bending his legs and leaning his arms on his knees, stretching his neck before taking a good look around.

"Did you spend the whole night here?"

"They have some incredible nightlights. And the night didn't last more than a few hours. It's like time is… stretching over the day somehow."

"Tell me you haven't started taking notes."

A light elbow to his ribs convinced Noctis to lay off the playful jabs.

"The guys are pretty worried about you," the prince stated.

Ignis let out a deep sigh, but remained silent.

"I'm worried too. I know I dismissed each and every of you because I was obsessed with finding Luna…"

"It's fine," Ignis cut him off. "I always preferred seeing you with a goal than the ghost you were for the past weeks."

Noctis wished he had the same patience as his advisor. Iggy could always get through him one way or another. But now that the roles were reversed, he was struggling and reverted to being more aggressive about it.

"It's not _fine_ ," Noctis opposed. "You didn't even let us know what happened with you that day. Gladiolus said they found you by the altar."

"Noctis, we've already talked about this."

"More like I tried to talk, and you kept interrupting me or telling me I should drop our whole quest and enjoy my life a little. I don't know what you went through, but your sight isn't coming back, and you know it."

Ignis's sharp intake of breath was enough to know his words had hit too close to home. Noctis tried to ease some of his pain, clinging to one more hope. If Luna could survive, surely…

"If I knew who did this to you," he started. "If that person was here, in this time, I would…"

"There's nothing you can do, believe me."

"Ignis, we traveled back in time! Is there really stuff we can't do at this point?"

Ignis clenched both fists, his teeth snapping together. He didn't want to hope. He couldn't. He'd made his choice and it had meant saving Noctis's life. For now, at least.

"You can't fix this, Noct," he declared, voice firm, sharp, almost rough from the pain he was holding back.

"Why not?!"

Ignis motioned to get up, his exasperation turning to resentment. He wasn't going to subject his liege to those ugly emotions if he could… But a pull held him back and he realized Noctis had gripped his arm. Their eyes locked in a defying glare.

"You're going to tell me what happened."

"I will do no such thing," Ignis retorted. "Let go."

Ignis was trying to pull away as they talked, but Noctis was holding him back with all his might and their strength being quite similar if you didn't count the crystal powers, they should have been stuck like this for a while. Except Ignis had no patience and Noctis was too on edge.

"A star shaped scar, Iggy!" Noctis reminded him. "You're trying to make me believe that's…!"

Something snapped as Ignis saw Ardyn's awful smile under his eyelids. He remembered the way his set of daggers and polearms were suddenly like the armiger, how moving was too easy, he hadn't been moving, but gliding. Noctis lying motionless on the ground. Almost lifeless, but still breathing. The burns on his arms, on his shoulders, the dark spots dancing behind his eyes as he let the ring eat away at his lifeforce. It was all surging back, the blooming pain around his left eye, melting, sizzling skin, the fire in his lungs, up in his throat. The hand on his wrist was an invasion and he needed to free himself, otherwise there was no way he could breathe.

Noctis never saw the punch coming. He was too dumbfounded to defend himself, letting out a yelp as his back hit the roof tiles. Ignis had gripped his collar and seemed ready to punch him again. There was a look in his eyes foreign, furious, almost wild with anger. He wasn't entirely there, he might be seeing things.

"Iggy?" Noctis asked, his voice a little too high-pitched.

The use of his nickname by the prince made him snap out of it. He realized with horror he'd just struck Noctis in his panic.

"Oh lords… I didn't… I apologize, Noct…"

"It was my fault, wasn't it?"

For the longest time, they remained staring at each other, Ignis frozen in place, Noctis trying to swallow the guilt coming with his own understanding. If they were counting past faults, Ignis had a thousand reasons to blame or resent Noctis. But his insufferable dislike of vegetables, his incapacity to be on time or appear interested by something had never put off Ignis. At least, not that the man ever showed it. There had been time when they'd clashed of course. Right now, they both felt lost. Noctis had never looked at him with this kind of guilt and Ignis had never wanted to hide when he'd met his eyes.

"If I'm to blame…" Noctis started.

 _Why do I have to see that look on your face?_

"I am not blaming anyone…"

It was a struggle to let the words out, a struggle to push on the contradicting thoughts and feelings tearing at his heart and soul. Ignis looked away first as the weight crushed him. He couldn't be strong now, he couldn't face him, couldn't ask for his eyes back when the price was so little compared to…

He tried to pull away, to find his rationality and sanity in distance, but Noctis held him back for the second time. In a shuddering breath, Ignis lost all that was left of his composure, he lost the safe distance, the will to fight against the pain, the pretense of being whole and unfazed. Noctis saw the apprehension in his eyes turning into tears before to feel his pointy nose digging in his shoulder. It felt awkward for a instant, scary for about three full seconds, because he'd never seen the man cracking down before. Ignis always led the way, facing the world all on his own, barely letting him have his back on the battlefield. And now…

"I wanted to keep you safe," Ignis confessed.

He sounded like a child. Noctis held him, gulping down the knot in his throat.

"And you freaking did. Did you really have to go and get yourself blind doing it?"

"They didn't really give me a say in the matter," the older man muttered. He raised himself then, even though his shoulders were still shaking a bit, looking embarrassed beyond words.

Noctis sat up and nudged him in the shoulder, worry written all over his face.

"Who are _they_?"

Ignis ran one hand over his tired face, effectively ruining his hairstyle, which would normally infuriate him. Instead he just sighed as he tried to get his emotions back under control.

"Now, if I tell you, I want you to keep your temper in check."

That sounded so much like the good old Iggy, Noctis wondered how far back they'd gone. But his advisor didn't wait, knowing he would only hesitate more if he did.

"I wore the ring. Ardyn was threatening you and it was the only way…"

"You did WHAT?!"

Ignis couldn't help the smirk that tugged on the corner of his mouth at the prince's reaction.

"After all these years, maybe a part of my mind thought my exemplary service to the royal family would amount to something in their eyes."

"You moron! Did you want to get yourself killed?!"

"If it meant keeping you alive…"

"Shut up and listen to yourself talking. What do you think I would do if you were gone?"

Ignis was shaken by the genuine distress in Noctis's eyes. They'd always cared for each other, it was pretty much impossible for things to be otherwise, but their friendship was a force of habit. Like the sun shining in the morning and the rain falling on cloudy days.

"You're the chosen kin…"

It was Ignis's turn to get punched in the face, although this time, the offender meant it.

"You're lucky I wasn't wearing my glasses," he groaned, raising one hand in self-defense when Noctis gripped his collar.

"You're lucky to be alive after pulling a stunt like that!" Noctis objected. "The ring rejects… Of course, _you_ 'd be worthy, Iggy, but it could have taken so much more than your eyes!"

"I'm aware. Now do you understand why going back…"

"Forget about that. You need to swear to me, _on my head_ ," Noctis emphasized, "that you won't do something like that again."

"On… your head?" Ignis repeated, shrugging him off to straighten his rumpled collar.

"Since you clearly don't care about your own neck."

"Noctis…"

"That's an order from your king. You're like a brother to me, Iggy. You're all the family I got left. I can't…"

 _I can't face any of this if you're gone._

Ignis swallowed.

"I'm not going anywhere. I can't promise I'll recover as fast as I'd want from…"

He mouthed a curse as the right words to reassure Noctis eluded him.

"Just don't forsake your life for mine. I don't even know if I can really keep Luna after coming here."

"You're not getting rid of me this easily."

"Good…"

It was hard to tell if anything more needed to be said between them after that. Noctis wanted to apologize and ask for more explanation, but Ignis was still quite raw and also quite ashamed for his lapse of property, no matter how short it had been.

It was a buzz from Noctis's phone that actually brought them out of their daze. Somehow, they were both wondering for how long they'd consider each other as family without ever acknowledging it.

"What is it?"

"Gladio wants your hungover cure," Noctis sighed, before putting on a teasing smile. "After all, I'm the only one who would be lost without you, blind or not."

Ignis rolled his eyes, relishing the fact he could do it with both eyes yet.

"I suppose it is good to feel needed," he stated. "Although your Shield better grow back to his actual age when we reach the present."

"If you tell him that, you might get yourself another bruise," Noctis mocked him.

He was sporting quite the bruise himself already and Ignis might had dwelled on it if he wasn't trying to keep far worse regrets at bay. So instead of apologizing, he shot back. "Did you really have to punch me?!"

"Hey, that was payback, since you started it out of the blue!"

The argument remained playful and while they were both buying time, so they could process everything else. Buying time in a stretched-out loop of the same day playing over and over again sounded counter-intuitive, but they might as well try.

To be continued…

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I'm stuck home with my broken car – the cold temporarily killed it- and I indulged myself into writing another chapter today. Calling Umbra has gotten a lot of love lately, but I feel like I should go back to Unexpected. But anyway, next chapter will see Noct/Luna fluff, and surely some heavy angst with a potential visit from a certain villain. You know, that guy whose powers involve playing with stitches in time. I wonder if Umbra can sniff him out of his hiding place.

I hope you're all doing well. The faves and following has made me really happy, so thank you for that. And thank you for the reviews too, you know how much they motivate me! :D


	6. Forget the future

A new chapter! I hope you'll like it, for it's mostly chocobros and brief fluff mixed in there. Enjoy this short chapter!

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Calling Umbra

Chapter 5 – Forget the future

Walking back to the Leville felt like a walk of shame. Noctis and Ignis did their best to talk about normal things, but it was clear how eager Noctis was to reunite with Luna, while Ignis wanted to get his hands on food. He wanted to prepare the king's favorite meal as an apology for punching him out of nowhere.

"I was hoping we could stay for a few weeks. Is that… alright with you?"

"I can't pretend I'm eager to be blind again," Ignis declared calmly.

How jarring to hear him refer to his wounds that way…

"Iggy…"

"I'm still coming to terms with it, but that loss isn't…"

"Stop trying to be the bigger person. You think breaking down for half a minute is enough to get over it?!"

A slap behind his head made Noctis look up at him furiously and Ignis glared right back at him for a few seconds more.

"I made my decision Noctis and if I was to go back, I'd let things play out in the very same way," the advisor stated, "Gladiolus would lay down his life for you and so would Prompto. Is it so wrong that I'm no different?"

 _Except you're no pawns. You think my father was happy to lose soldiers? You think I want you to sacrifice yourself for me?_

"Well, travelling through time might not undo the ring's magic. But once I have regained the crystal, I won't be as limited in my powers. I might even be able to do something about that toll my ancestors asked of you."

Hope again. How badly Noctis wanted to give him hope. Because he was seeing a happy ending in front of him, he couldn't stand for his friends to remain in a dark place.

"How about we stop acting as if I need fixing in the present?" Ignis asked, making an effort to keep his voice steady.

He felt broken as it was and knew his own attitude wasn't helping. Getting over his handicap would take time and it was the one thing they had aplenty now. Noctis squared his shoulders, wishing he had the right words to comfort his friend.

"I can try. Will you go off on your own again during our stay?"

"Might as well enjoy the chance I have now. I most certainly can convince Prompto and Gladio to follow me on a few escapades, since I'm sure you'd appreciate more time alone with the princess."

Ignis was glad he could see Noctis's blush. It had been a long time since he'd seen his friend flustered.

"I hope we can try to spend time together, I mean the five of us."

"That'd be nice."

…

"What the hell happened to your faces?!" Prompto exclaimed as both men stepped into the room where Gladiolus, the gunman and the Oracle waited for them. Luna was sitting on her own couch, with Pryna's head on her lap and Umbra lying at her feet.

Noctis couldn't help but notice the distance the guys kept from her and wondered how awkward things would be between the woman he loved and his friends for the time they would spend together. And if that awkwardness would remain when she'd get back to the present with them.

"We may have…"

Ignis wasn't quite sure how to describe their altercation, so Noctis stepped in.

"…Argued?" he supplied his friend. "Ignis lost his patience and punched me square in the face. So I repaid him in kind."

"You did not…?!" Gladiolus asked the advisor, a large grin threatening to take over his features. "When I barely shove him around, you go ahead and…"

"I think I have good reasons to lack self-control," Ignis defended himself almost instantly, gesturing to push his glasses higher on his nose only to realize he wasn't wearing his glasses with a scowl.

"Wow. Did we pack ebony recently?" Prompto asked, feigning worry.

A small laugh was shared among the guys, although Noctis didn't fully feign offense at the clear meaning of Gladio's jab.

"How come you all act as though I should be punched?!"

"So self-centered," his shield commented, as though that should answer everything.

"I beg to differ," Luna interfered, gathering the four men's attention, their easy smile shifting to seriousness. The sudden weight of their gazes on her made her blush despite how used she was to speaking in front of a crowd. "I mean… Noctis might have pushed you to come to this time, but…"

"You never told us how cute your princess could get."

"Gladio!" Noctis instantly chided him.

Prompto wasn't sure how to help the Oracle regain her composure, but she got to her feet, decided to tackle the situation from another angle.

"I can fix that bruising," she started. "While I don't recommend making it a habit to punch each other..."

Ignis frowned, while Noctis seemed ready to protest, but Luna had already stepped over the distance between them. Seeing her alive, standing in the same room was still quite surreal and the prince couldn't oppose to her touch as she gently cupped his face. His friends sensed the intimacy in her touch, Gladio himself feeling as though they were intruding on a moment that should have stayed between the royals. Still, they couldn't look away, having never seen such a pure magic before.

A prayer and a brush of their foreheads and the bruising and tightness to Noctis's jaw vanished, along with a few aches he hadn't even realized in his joints. He'd barely had time to process what her magic felt during the covenant, but now he could tell how warm and gentle it was. Unlike the crystal and his elemancy, which made his skin burn, freeze or itch with pinpricks of lightning bolts, her light was just as soft as her skin. He wanted to pull her in his arms, afraid her legs might not hold her. She'd been so weak the other day and he didn't want her to push herself and had no idea what using her magic did to her after carrying his father's ring for so long. Recalling that his friends were still around, he settled for a light squeeze on her shoulders and giving her a warm smile.

"That's… Thank you."

Lunafreya seemed just as content to have the chance to heal him. After all these years, after Leviathan and Ardyn, they were together.

 _It won't kill her either. It's just a tiny bruise. She's fixed far worse,_ he reminded himself.

He could tell the princess didn't want to part from him so soon, but she still took a sidestep to get a better look at Ignis's own shiner.

"There's no need," Ignis declared, raising his hands in objection.

"As a healer, I strive for equality. And you've paid quite a price to protect our chosen King."

Wasn't it the least she could do?

"You should rest instead of…"

His voice cut off as the Oracle stepped closer. Healing meant comfort and comfort might take away what little stability he had. He felt so raw and her eyes held so much care.

 _Even if we save her, Noctis is still going to…_

He flinched backward as she tentatively reached out and the rest of the guys exchanged worried glances. They'd never seen Ignis quite this tense.

"Maybe this would work better if we were alone," Lunafreya offered, giving a brief look to Prompto and Gladiolus. The guys didn't have to be begged and walked out of the room, Noctis following them as Luna gave him his own pointed look.

Ignis had half a mind to walk out too, since he doubted removing the bruise on his face would be enough to take away the turmoil in his heart.

"I mean only to ease your pain. I don't need to touch you if you do not wish for it, but I don't want to force my magic on you, Ignis."

He sighed deeply. He hadn't imagined those to be among the first words they'd exchanged.

"I had hoped to make a much better first impression, lady Lunafreya," he confessed, straightening his shoulders.

The smile she gave him was so kind, he wanted to ask the gods how they could accept her passing.

"You can call me Luna. And don't believe I wanted to appear as a frail thing ready to collapse when I'd first meet Noctis and the friends he told me so much about. You looked after him for so long… Thank you."

She bit her lips as she realized a little too late her choice of words, but Ignis didn't let his newfound bitterness take over. He didn't need his eyes to look after the prince. This time, when she took a step forward, he merely tensed up. And her magic gently eased the smarting in his cheekbone. Her prayer was so low this time, he wondered if the words were spoken in another tongue. Her light soothed his nerves, taking away a good part of the tension in his limbs. It was terrifying to realize his body could be changed so easily, but Ignis didn't feel threatened like he had when exposed to the ring of Lucii.

Her light gave him peace for a brief instant. He wasn't sure he remembered a time when his mind was at peace, with everything he had to worry about during his entire life. But that reprieve was so welcome, if the bruising had been any worse, stretching out her light for even a minute longer, he might have wept.

"I wish I could do more," Luna told him.

 _I know the feeling._

…

Noctis was torn between his urge to spend all his time with Luna alone, but his friends were all worked up by the recent events and he realized they needed to be around him. Prompto suggested the five of them go out to enjoy dinner together and Ignis agreed to wait one more day before letting the Oracle sample his cooking. He was really eager to cook, but Gladio convinced him that he was owed a longer break.

For the first few steps on the street, Luna felt the need to hide herself again, but it soon became clear that no one was interested in bothering the Oracle, or was even capable of recognizing her. Ignis had gone through the trouble of procuring her new clothes and it was with a blue and white dress flowing around her calves that she stepped into the restaurant Prompto had spotted on their earlier stay in Altissia. The conversation was mostly the guys talking about their trip to the city of water, Lunafreya listening with a growing smile at the many anecdotes they had to tell.

"And then that guy acts like he's doing us a favor by letting us help him fetching that stone for him," Gladiolus explained.

"I have pictures of that bird!" Promto said excitedly.

"You're going to make her dizzy with every picture you took," Ignis cautioned.

"I love them. It looks like you four had a lot of fun during your travel. Is this a swamp?"

"Yeah, that was Steyliff grove. That place was crazy, the ceiling was water!"

"Amazing. I only ever read about it."

"I remember Noctis falling down with crumbling bridge and right into a red giant arm," Gladio teased the prince.

"That's not how it happened!" Noctis tried protesting, but Luna's hand on his calmed him down.

His friends wanted to have fun for once and they all needed a good laugh, even if it was at his expense here and there. Gladiolus insisted on ordering some wine to celebrate this improbable reunion and Luna surprised them all by downing her glass with ease. She blushed at the admirative whistling from the Shield and Prompto's "whoot", inching just a bit closer to Noctis on the bench they were sharing.

"Are you nervous?" Noctis asked her as lowly as he could.

He didn't want to embarrass her, but she flushed a little more and gave a curt nod.

"I can't remember the last time I did something like this."

Noctis couldn't help his heart swelling at the sight of her smile and the need to wrap an arm around her to hold her a brief instant took over his shyness. He still needed the reminder that she was really next to him, this wasn't a dream.

"Careful there, lover boy," Gladio chastised him. "If you make this princess blush anymore, the waiter might think we're trying to get her drunk."

"I'll have you know it takes a lot more to get me drunk," Luna objected, squaring her shoulders with a proud look on her face.

"Oh my gods, is that a challenge? We're not doing that on our first night out, are we?" Prompto asked.

"Of course not. Neither you nor Noctis can hold your liquor," Ignis joined in on the teasing.

"This sounds interesting," Luna whispered, raising one curious brow at her fiancé.

"Guys, do you really need to embarrass me like this?"

"I'm sure the princess loves it when you're flustered," Gladio laughed.

"We need to get her caught up on a lot of things," Ignis added.

"And Noctis is a happy drunk. He hired two guards for the castle just because he liked their smile."

"Dear Carbuncle!" Noctis swore through clenched teeth. "You hired three maids that night, Gladio."

"They were too lovely not to keep them around," he said, his eyes searching the restaurant for their waitress who was just as lovely. Prompto had covered his mouth, while Lunafreya exchanged questioning looks with Noctis and Ignis and Gladio realized the potential misunderstanding. "Oh, that sounded sort of bad, didn't it? I don't usually pick up girls by giving them a job at the Citadel."

"You did for your manor though," Ignis was quick to remind him.

"Only once and she became Iris's best friend and my worst enemy! I have mental scars from it!"

"Uh huh…"

"Gladio's great at starting relationships, but not at making them last," Noctis told Luna from under his hand.

"Noctis, don't lie about me."

"I would never!"

The discussion shifted to Tenebrae and Pryna, because Prompto loved that dog too much not to inquire about her. They enjoyed a second bottle of wine and a full plate of desserts. Luna wanted to resist the temptation, too use to passing up on sugary treats because the empire dictated it so, but Noctis wanted to spoil her rotten. He made sure to touch her every time he could, holding her hand under the table, letting their arms brush and to his amazement, she smiled for each and every attention, making it a point to also reach for him whenever she thought the guys weren't looking at them.

When Prompto suggested a toast for the lovebirds, the pair of royals blushed, but allowed them their fun. If this was a simple reprieve they would enjoy it as best as they could.

By the time they were getting ready to pay, Luna couldn't helped her eyes drifting to the streets outside, bright with lights and the moon reflecting on the water. There was something so peaceful about this place, she could just…

A brown head caught her attention from the distinctive hairstyle and she gasped, pulling on Noctis's hand as she took a step forward.

"What is it?" the prince instantly asked.

Luna barely looked at him, tugging on his hands even more, looking pale and even terrified.

"I saw someone. Nyx Ulric."

"Who?" Prompto asked, while Gladiolus frowned and Ignis quickly made an inventory of the persons he knew by that name.

There was only one.

"Maybe he came here on vacations?" Noctis suggested.

"That's impossible. That man died in Insomnia."

Which raised a very important question to the whole group. Were they really in Altissia? And if so, when exactly were they?!

To be continued…

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Da da dan! I have no shame. And it appears that I write more when I'm sick. It has more to do that I can't focus well on school when sick. This story might get longer than I first planned, but we'll just see how things go. Please, please review!


	7. Am I alive? And for how long?

It's time to take away that strange cliffhanger and to have a few answers as to Nyx's presence in past Altissia. Enjoy!

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Calling Umbra

Chapter 6 – Am I alive? And for how long?

"Can we go after him?" Luna asked.

"Of course."

Noctis wasn't sure why she even needed to ask, it was clear she had to look into this and the guys signaled they would take care of the bill for them. Nyx was walking at a normal pace, so the pair of royals had no difficulties catching up to him at the turn of the road.

"Excuse me," Luna called out to the man.

Like everyone around Altissia, he didn't look back and Noctis had to grab his shoulder and pull him back one step to grab his attention.

"I'm sorry, sir, but…"

His voice died down in his throat at the sight that greeted them, the brunet turning around to look at them with eyes that leaked of dark tears, the white of his eyes nothing but darkness, his head cocking to the side as he took in Luna.

"What…? Is this the blight?" she managed, paling and fighting against her urge to back away.

"Princess?" Nyx asked, his voice coming out garbled. It echoed in a strange way and Noctis was convinced no stage of the blight could have that effect on someone.

"I thought… you were dead."

"Am I? I've been here for… For... When did you got here? It's really hard to remember when the last arrival was due. The boss has been gone for… I can't remember when it comes to time here, silly, huh?"

Luna wasn't sure she was facing the right man, but she couldn't help the feeling he held some answers to their current and very improbable situation. He chuckled and coughed, a droplet of black tar remaining at the corner of his mouth.

"You need treatment, Nyx," she insisted.

"We don't need anything here. You shouldn't either, princess. Who's that guy? He looks familiar."

Noctis kept Luna from reaching out to Nyx, all his senses on high alert.

"This is wrong," he whispered to her ear. "No one around here looks like this. Or sounds like this."

"I hadn't seen anyone in a long time before you came to get me," she reminded him, lowering her voice like he had, before turning her attention back to Nyx. "You mentioned an arrival of something."

"If you don't know about it, I can't tell you."

"Have you been like this for long?" the princess insisted.

"As long as the red core burns."

Luna gasped, recognizing a maxim that ran only in the empire, referring to Niflheim's emblematic blazon and its magitek technology. A passerby bumped into them and Noctis realized their eyes were circled with black tar too. Was it because the sun had set, revealing the illusion of a peaceful Altissia up till now? Was the time running out on them?

"Oh princess, you know how to answer the red core's burn, don't you? Maybe your friend does. If not, the penalty has to strike."

Heads turned at the word penalty and Noctis couldn't hold still anymore. He pulled his shivering princess close and summoned a sword, warping away from the scene without even thinking. In three throws they were standing on a nearby building's roof and Luna couldn't help a nervous scream as she saw dozens of black eyes looking up to them, eyebrows twitching, black tar coming out noses, dripping down crooked smiles and even staining hair as it flowed out of their ears. She recognized a few faces outside of Nyx's and understanding dawned on her, making her heart shudder in her chest.

"They're not sick, Noctis. They're all dead."

She had only one foot on the roof, Noctis being the main reason she could still stand up as the shock wracked through her.

"Oh gods."

"I must be next."

"We don't know that, Luna."

"Nyx died, I saw him, and so did that man!" she managed despite her short breathing, her finger failing to point at anyone as the shaking got stronger.

"We need to get out of their sight right now. Hold on to me," Noctis asked, looking for a place where they could disappear.

He wanted to go back to being ignored and just enjoy time with her, was that too much to ask? Was he going to wake up from a nightmare that had lasted longer than all the others?

"You shouldn't be here Noct, but maybe I should stay. This is wrong."

"Do you really want to stay down there with them?"

He gave her time to make up her mind, time to look down at this street, lit up for the festival, with everyone on it staring right back at them, Nyx repeated the word "penalty" which was starting to be chanted by the whole street of people. There were children afflicted by that black tar too, there were…

Luna wanted to call on her light but something told her she couldn't heal this. Her heart broke at the thought and she hid her face against Noctis's chest.

"No, no, no, no no no no no, I can't…!"

He held her closer, kissing the top of her hair, fighting against the many fears growing in his mind. If these people were dead, was she going to end up like them in a matter of days? What about his friends? Would staying here affect them somehow? Had he doomed the entire world by staying in this weird version of the past where dead people roamed among the living, talking and crying black tears of a substance he couldn't identify?

"It's okay, I'm not letting you go. Just hold on to me."

"I should help them, not run away," she opposed, shaking her head weakly.

It felt as though this macabre discovery had sapped all of her remaining strength.

"Luna, please."

"Princess!" Nyx called out, having crossed the street and reaching an arm up to her.

Noctis decided they'd waited enough and warped, feeling Luna's shivering form hanging on tight to him as they blurred forward, vanishing into the night. He refused to go back to the streets, halting when they seemed isolated enough to text his friends a word of warning, to which Gladio called him crazy, but he was more worried about the young Oracle shaking in his arms than any name his Shield could call him.

"Luna…"

"I'm c...cold." she defended herself, teeth chattering together as she tried to rub some warmth back in her arms.

Noctis mentally chided himself for not taking her coat as they'd walked out of the restaurant and wrapped his jacket around her, pulling her in for a bear hug while keeping his eyes on their surroundings. Nothing moved in the night, they could hear people talking in the distance, but the litany of "penalty" was gone and all they were left with was the sick picture of Nyx crying and laughing, his skin greying a bit.

"How can these people be dead?" he asked, as much to himself as to her.

Her hands clasped to his shirt as she shook her head in desperation.

"You travelled into the past, Noct," she reminded him, her shaking calming down but her shoulders jumping at every few words. She was doing everything she could to keep herself together. "Maybe there's a plane where the dead go before crossing to the Astral planes?" she swallowed, hard enough for Noctis to hear it before going on. "It makes no sense with what I've learned, but no gods ever possessed the power to travel through time and here Umbra brought you anyway. I know Nyx died. And there were other glaives I saw in Insomnia. That little girl in the back had a fever in Tenebrae before I received my powers…"

She felt too frail between his arms and Noctis had no idea how to comfort her. He was just as shaken, but it seemed all strength had left her.

"Let's try and get back to the hotel. We'll regroup with the guys."

The Leville wasn't far, but it took a lot of cuddling to convince Luna they'd be fine going back in the streets. She apologized in the middle of her protests, wishing to be stronger than this.

"Luna, you don't have to be strong right now. This whole thing is terrifying."

"You should stop this torture and go back to the present before I turn into one of them," she insisted, shaking like a leaf by now.

Noctis would have shaken her up if she wasn't so fragile on her feet. Instead he held her close, giving her time, whispering into her hair, "you're with me Luna, stay with me, just hang on for a little longer and you can rest."

"I shouldn't need rest if I'm already gone, why do I even feel so weak?" she managed through her hacked sobs.

"Because you're not gone yet!" he told her. "Luna, please, stop assuming you're already dead, it's killing me."

"Oh Noct, I'm sorry, I just… My tears are clear, aren't they?"

He kissed the corner of her eye in a swift, desperate motion, drying her tears hastily as he cupped her face with both hands.

"Look at me Luna."

She gripped to his wrists, needing his touch more than anything else in the world right now.

"I lost you twice in my life already. I'm not letting it happen again, you hear me? No imperial, no giant snake fish, no…" he halted himself before mentioning Ardyn, since she was still ignorant to the exact circumstances of her demise. "I' . .again."

There was such pain and determination in his eyes, she hated herself a little more for putting him through this.

"I'm here," she said, hoping it would comfort him or at least convince herself. "I want to be by your side and I don't want to let go."

Her hands tightened their grasp on him and Noctis wanted to squeeze her closer than would be comforting, because he was just as shaken as her. Instead, he tried to have her calm down.

"You're alive Luna," he insisted, feeling bold enough to lower one hand and find her pulse with the gentle press of his thumb on her chest. "I can feel your heart and if you need me to make you feel alive, I will, for every day we can share."

She gasped as she restrained a sob, her hands moving from her mouth to her eyes as relief slowly crept into her heart. How could it thump so steadily if she was dead? How could she cry and hurt so much if she was gone? Noctis was alive, he was warm, she could feel him and that had to mean…

"I'm so scared this could stop with the blink of an eye."

"I'd tell you not to blink, but your eyes will get really dry if you do that," Noctis awkwardly tried himself at humor.

She simply sighed and hid her face against his chest once more.

"I think I can go back down if you don't let me look at them," she suggested.

Her voice was still frail, a shadow of what it was during her speech to Altissia and Noctis wondered if she would ever remember it or if it was better she didn't. There were so many questions in his heart, but answering either of them was akin to breaking both of them.

The warp down was softer than the previous ones, Noctis needing to save his strength to keep his cool as they walked between the passersby. He still noticed the black tar coming out of their eyes and ears. None of them paid the pair any mind and they walked back to the lobby of the Leville unharmed. Luna was still shaking as Noctis supported most of her weight, his arms firmly wrapped around her. Gladio, Prompto and Ignis were all already there, waiting with puzzled looks on their faces.

"What was this deal with weird activities outside?" Gladio instantly asked.

"More importantly, is Luna okay?" Prompto interfered. "She looks ready to collapse."

"And like you just ran a marathon. Did you warp the whole way back here?" Ignis inquired in a lower tone.

Luna instantly felt bad and pushed on Noctis's chest to get out of his embrace.

"I can walk on my…"

She faltered on her first step and Noctis held her steady before either of his friends could react.

"Easy there. Let's take this to our room first," he offered, lifting Luna in his arms bridal style.

They all followed him, Gladio overly cautious of their surroundings while Prompto was fidgeting nervously, Ignis burning with a growing impatience of knowing what could have put the Oracle in such a state. The poor lady was throwing wild glances around and barely calmed down when Noctis settled her on one of the beds, Pryna instantly jumping on the mattress to look after her mistress. Luna started to shiver so violently when Noctis pulled away, he feared she could fall into another panic unless he held her.

"Luna," he tried not to let his voice waver, but seeing her in such a state worried him.

He wanted her to be safe and right now, this past was hurting her.

"I can't stop wondering why they're here," she admitted, before adding in a whisper, "and why I'm here."

"Slow down a minute," Gladio demanded, tired of being kept out of the loop.

Ever since they'd travelled in time, he felt as though he was always the last one understanding the situation.

"Who are _they_?" he insisted.

"More like what are they," Noctis shot back, shifting awkwardly as he tried to find a comfortable position with Luna wrapped under his left arm, her hands tied to his shirt. "That Nyx oozed black tar from every of his orifices and as soon as he realized we weren't familiar with how things work here, the whole street stared at us, chanting about a penalty. It was like a live version of The Tonberries Walk!"

Prompto covered his ears in fright while Ignis crossed his arms over his chest and Gladio's frown deepened.

"A penalty?" the advisor repeated.

Luna found her voice to join the discussion, not letting go of Noctis's hand.

"I thought it was the blight but my light wouldn't… I can sense people and what I sensed was… That wasn't people. It was worse than what I feel in front of magitek soldiers."

Noctis's face darkened and Prompto let out a strangled gasp, but Ignis was quick to comment these new facts.

"This is quite disturbing. We were looking out for anomalies, but everyone we saw looked perfectly human. No black tar, even when we bumped into someone."

"I was nervous!" Prompto pointed out. "And the one thing that keeps feeling weird is how everyone acts like we just stop existing as soon as we're out of sight," the gunman continued. "What if it was a sign? Does this mean we're surrounded by dead people?" his voice came out too high as he finished and Noctis shivered with Luna this time, squeezing her waist.

 _Not her._

"This is preposterous!" Gladio groaned, throwing his hands in the air.

"As preposterous as travelling in time?" Ignis offered, pinching the bridge of his nose as he sensed a headache coming.

Umbra whined softly as he curled up on himself, while Pryna pressed herself against Luna's legs, humming plaintively with her ears lowered.

"I'm still trying to process the time travel part, but I'd rather not have to deal with zombies," Gladio defended himself. "The princess saw one of the glaives who shouldn't even be here to begin with. So what will be next? I get to see my father?!"

The shield didn't manage to fully hold back his pain and Noctis winced as he realized how much of a torture this might prove to be for each of his friends. He kept forgetting what Gladio had lost since the start of this journey and in his haste to look after Luna, he might very well forget to look after the men he considered as brothers.

They all wanted to explore things some more, but Luna's clear shock convinced Ignis they had better wait until they had more information to ponder on this development any longer.

"We're all at risk of meeting someone we know given the circumstances," the advisor remarked for Gladio's sake, "but while staying on our guards, I'm under the impression we won't be in trouble unless we provoke these…"

"Tarberries?" Prompto supplied, between excitement and terror.. "I'm guessing we could call them tarberries. I can't believe our lives are turning into a horror movie!"

Luna uttered a smile at that, since it sounded funny somehow and after debating just a minute longer, the three men exited the room, Prompto having convinced Pryna of following them. Noctis turned his entire attention back on Luna, who blushed as she realized how clingy she was acting.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her.

"Not myself. Now that I think of it, how do we know I'm your Luna and not just a reflection of the past… A reflection waiting to shatter like everyone else…"

Noctis stared at her with horrified eyes at first, too shocked to speak and when he found his voice again, it was to turn her thinking around.

"What does that make me then? I can't be your Noctis unless you are…"

"No, what I meant is…"

"I know what you meant, but it hurts. I came to this now, to this time for you. Not a picture-perfect princess or the approximative idea our notebook gave me of you. I came back in time to have you in my life. There cannot be more than one Lunafreya."

 _And that Luna died…_ she thought with a whimper.

"How do you know it's me?"

"Because you're so damn selfless. What is scarier? Being alive or being with me?"

It was Luna's turn to be shocked and she slapped his thigh in protest, albeit so weakly it almost felt like a caress.

"You have no idea how much I've wanted to be with you! What scares me is what would happen if this time, this present is all we can have. I'm not selfless right now, Noct, I want every hour of your life, every color in your eyes, the peace of your arms and to know the promises we made as children will see the light of day."

Noctis wanted her to keep that mindset and stop jumping from them to her impending death. Instead he pulled her into a kiss, unable to hold back on his need, Luna doing her best to answer his fire with as much fire. She held his face in her hands, his despair mixing with hers and when he laid her down, she moaned her approval, even it if meant running away from reality. She couldn't understand reality anymore and he was better than any truth she had learned. He could have kissed her like this for hours, but her strength betrayed her, her hands falling on either side of her head as she looked for air.

"You okay?" Noctis asked, nestling her head under one arm.

"I feel too weak to move," she admitted, an apology ringing on the back of her words.

He kissed the tears of shame on her cheeks, cuddling her until she accepted the idea she'd get better with rest.

"You're spoiling me," Luna sighed. "I wish I could spoil you back instead of needing so much care."

"You need to let me be your prince for once."

"Will my prince stay with me? Make sure I don't… turn into one of those tarberries?"

Noctis bit back the worry that surged deep inside at how serious she sounded. He didn't want to give root to this fear, although he knew she might be right.

 _Don't be right this time,_ he pleaded.

"I'll stay and keep watch. In a few years, you can call me a creep for it."

Her laugh was really weak, but her smile stayed on as her eyes fluttered closed. He watched over her, giving in to the need to check her pulse every few hours. Right now, his Luna was alive. And he was going to keep her that way.

To be continued…

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So, things aren't looking so good, but they're not that bad either. I have a lot of answers coming to all the questions raised by this chapter. The next one should have the chocobros and fluff with Noct/Luna. I'm thinking of upping the rating of this fic because with the situation, Luna might turn out much bolder than her usual since she believes she has a time limit to her happiness with Noctis. Let me know what you'd think of smut in this story.

To answer Earny: Umbra hasn't gone back that far. It will all become much clear as the story progresses, I swear, but let's just say that Noctis and co didn't simply travel in time. Gentiana is not a bad person, I make her harsh with Luna because I see her as someone caring for Luna in a cold way, since she's a goddess and Shiva out of all. I think my main problem with Gentiana is that she was this messenger, and helped Luna from afar, while she could have helped her more directly and maybe prevent the heartache in Altissia (I will remain bitter about this until the end of my days). It is Niflheim, but I'm too used to spelling it Nifelheim thanks to FFVII. I might correct it eventually. ;) Thank you so much for reviewing, it's always appreciated.


	8. On finding peace

This story is obviously getting more than 10 chapters by now. Today we have chocobromance, angst – one day I want to write a fic taking place in Altissia without a hint of angst-… and we'll have fluff. I hope you enjoy!

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Calling Umbra

Chapter 7 – On finding peace

Once he was certain Luna was asleep, the prince had made a quick check on his phone and realized how worried each of his friends were. He tasked Umbra with looking over Lunafreya, scratching the dog's ears as he whispered, "Don't let anything happen to her while I'm gone."

He couldn't leave his retinue in the dark and if he was honest with himself, he was too shaken to find sleep right now, even if he wanted noting more than to crawl next to Luna and hold her tight throughout the night.

"So what happened?" Gladio asked as soon as Noctis walked into the room.

"Altissia is infested with dead people. If they died during the covenant or not is another question entirely, but I swear it's true. Luna said it looked like the scourge, but she can't fix it. And I don't want her to try in the shape she's in. That Nyx said something about the red core burning…"

Ignis swore out loud.

"It's a saying in the imperial army," the advisor explained. "A good luck wish that must be answered correctly to prove you're not a spy."

"How do you know that?" Prompto asked with an incredulous look on his face.

Ignis rose his glasses a bit higher and Gladio shrugged.

"He knows everything," the Shield snorted. "Except time travel stuff. Did we even travel in time or are we _somewhere_ else instead of _"somewhen"_ else?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Noctis sighed. "Umbra is supposed to travel through time, but Luna herself doesn't understand that power of his. The dogs are supposed to be messengers. If we're the messages, where would they deliver us?"

Prompto held his head, tapping his temple with one finger as he tried a decent answer.

"Can we just accept that our lives are now in a horror movie? I don't care if it's _Inception_ or _Dawn of the dead_ , I want out!"

"Prompto, _Inception_ is not a horror movie," Ignis reminded him.

"But what if we're dreaming all of this?! How horrible would it be?"

Noctis winced and Gladiolus instantly shifted the subject, hoping it would divert his prince.

"Those tarberries are fake for all we know. Why would Umbra take us to a plane of hell or some sort of waiting room for dying people?"

Noctis raised his hands in defeat.

"I swear to you Gladio, I saw them," he insisted. "Luna didn't dream them up. I don't know what triggered the tar from their eyes, but it was the first time I was out at night in this time, whatever this version of Altissia is."

"Oh, oh, that could be it. A parallel universe!" Prompto exclaimed, looking more excited than worried with this potential conclusion.

"We're getting nowhere, throwing ideas at each other," Ignis observed. "I've never come across texts even remotely addressing the subject of messenger dogs from Tenebrea, no one here seem to remember us once we're done talking to them. A woman literally told me the same sentence three times in a row on our walk back."

"We need to know the rules," Noctis admitted. "And I don't want to stay here any longer than we need, but Luna is so damn scared right now. She's convinced she will be next…"

His voice shivered on the last words and his friends looked at him with pained eyes, Prompto merely managing a few words before to be interrupted.

"I can't go through it another time," Noctis blurted out, grabbing at fistfuls of his hair, desperately trying to hold himself together.

It felt like a punch to the gut to see him this shaken once more. He hadn't opened up back in the present, had refused to talk about the covenant and his loss, rejecting their shoulder or gentle slap on the back and kept to himself for days. Gladiolus was fully realizing just how deeply in love his friend and protégé was and to think he could have to lose the princess twice…

As always, it was their gunman who stepped up, pulling the prince in for a hug which Noctis didn't fight. On the contrary, he held back to his friend as though his life depended on it.

"Dude…" Prompto sighed. "We'll do everything we can…"

"What if there's nothing _I_ can do?! What if I just wake up from this and…?"

This time, there was a shudder to his breathing and Prompto shook his head, desperately fighting against his own tears as both men held onto each other tighter.

"Then you make every day here count, Noct," Ignis pragmatically offered, forcing himself to remain rooted where he stood.

Noctis looked up to his advisor at that, a terrible question remaining in his eyes, his face too pale as he considered the possibility Ignis knew more about Luna's fate than he'd let on.

The tension in the room was palpable and neither of them could handle it.

Gladiolus felt the need to pull the three of them in his arms if it could help, but he seriously wondered how he was supposed to help alleviate Noctis's state of mind after dismissing his loss for the past few weeks. Especially when Ignis was trying to keep him down on earth in case things didn't go well.

"There, there, lover boy, you're going to make Lunafreya jealous at this rate!" he warned.

Noctis managed a laugh, sniffling a bit as he took a step away from Prompto, not hiding himself as he dried his tears.

"I'm sorry for being such a damn mess, guys."

"We're not only here for the good times," Ignis reminded him.

Prompto nodded in agreement, before adding with a wink. "Although, I wouldn't say no to a game or something. Take each of our minds off all the dark thoughts and questions."

"Maybe resting…" Ignis suggested, clearly worrying about how long they'd all been up.

"You think that boy can sleep like this?" Gladio chuckled. "He'll want to slip back in bed with the princess and we can't let him show up looking like hell. Lucian men have a reputation to uphold."

Noctis frowned at that, while Prompto covered his snicker with one hand.

"Am I a boy or a man, make up your mind, goliath."

"And what's that reputation all about?" Prompto inquired.

"Being a manly and vile beast, I presume," Ignis offered, raising his glasses a little higher on the bridge of his nose, fighting against a light smirk at the Shield's offended expression.

"Vile?! I'm every part the gentleman," Gladio protested, giving their bespectacled friend a push strong enough to threaten his balance.

"I've heard different testimonies from a couple of teenage girls, but my memory could be mistaken."

"Oh yeah, his exes almost all tried going out with Iggy. I don't even get to be a left-over prize," Prompto declared with an over-exaggerated sigh.

"Left over prize?!" the advisor repeated.

"Ha ha!" Gladio

"What about that game you mentioned earlier?" Noctis asked, his smile staying on as he saw the offended expressions switching from Ignis to Gladio now.

He certainly didn't need an argument between the two over some old _love_ conquests. Not that Ignis ever started argument, he simply rectified or clarified things.

"Cards? We can bet to know which one of us gets to sleep in his own bed tonight" the Shield said.

"Oh no, I'm not sharing my bed with a manly and vile beast," the gunman warned cheekily.

…

Her fingers were freezing and her legs so numb, she wasn't sure how her knees hadn't buckled yet. Her flesh was failing her, her whole body holding up from a mix of sheer will and the vitality enhancer Ravus had bullied her into taking. The ring burned against her skin, pulling down on her very soul. The air she breathed was filled with traces of the scourge, as its evil was slowly running rampant. Altissia had felt better than the empire at first, but the particles of dark matter were now burning her nostrils and lungs. The salty water stung her eyes.

The covenant had started, and she couldn't help worrying about the other time her chosen King had fought against the gods. Were they all that big and brutal?

Noctis warped and phased far up in the sky, moving in blurs, the sea goddess whipping about violently, causing waves to crash against every boat and bank.

Lunafreya remembered a time when he couldn't walk, in fact, she'd never seen him walk before today, and now… he was grander than life.

The titanic fight faded out, Luna feeling hard ground beneath her knees and the tear in her dress. She couldn't see at first, the weakness when her eyes worked again, the first thing she saw was a sound. Ardyn's voice was so inflexible, so menacing, it almost carried it's own path on the wind as he walked up to her.

"Now… about that ring…"

Her blood froze and she gasped, her chest seizing as she struggled against the alarms in her brain. Noctis was the only thing that mattered. Where was Noctis? What had happened? Why was she falling now when nothing was over yet? She saw the chancellor standing over her, his back turned, his boots making no sound as he swirled around, crouching to look her straight in the eyes, his arm moving following a precise arc.

"On second thought... you let him have it."

The pain bloomed like a fire, a bright light covering her sight as her breath was cut short. It was a sharp, sharp edge lacerating her, digging inside, tearing her open with a half twist.

"And do remind him about the crystal," the man added.

Her ears were ringing and sounds were coming out of her lips, despicable, weak sounds of pain when she should have raised her trident, she should have seen the blade Ardyn had been holding in his front, she couldn't...

He pulled the blade back, parting the wound wider, as quick as he'd been while he'd struck. Luna hit the stone floor with a thud, her nerves ending as her world tipped over. It was a struggle to raise one arm, a struggle to order her sore muscles into moving enough so she could raise herself back somehow. Inch by inch, while her heart pounded, blood seeping out the wound, she stood to look him in the eyes.

Her magic knew it was fatal, and so did she just from the taste of blood in her mouth.

"Oh prince!" Ardyn called, playful in his twistedness. "Your bride awaits!"

She could see the smile on his lips and sensed the conflict in the man, the darkness unfurling through every one of his pores.

 _He's hurting. He's killed me. He's in pain. He's hurting Noctis._

She told him something about the ring, assuaging she'd keep her duty first, before focusing on the darkness in him. This she could fix, not the hole between her ribs, not the blood on her dress or the shivers in her flesh, but this man was something she could fix. She only wished she'd seen it before…

"All darkness that thralls… shall know peace," she promised.

He slapped her as the light touched too deep, trying to unwarp what time had consumed and tarnished. Her hair fell out of her bun, her head hitting the floor with a cracking sound and when she sat back up, Luna was too dizzy to speak. It was getting harder and harder to focus and she heard him declare with a flourish.

"How sweet. But please, Lady Lunafreya… You first."

 _Peace for you first, peace in death, peace for your dying line…_

Her heart quivered in unrest as her vision faded out once more. Her trident was lying on the ground. Her blood felt cold in her very veins. And all her thoughts were turning to Noctis.

This was how she'd lose him.

…

Noctis was woken up by Luna's elbow hitting his chin and the sheets being ripped away from him. She was shaking like a leaf and struggling against his limbs, not recognizing him or the room they were in.

"I don't want peace, I don't want… !"

"Luna," Noctis whispered, tentatively grabbing her shoulders.

She whimpered at the touch as though her entire body was a bundle of pain, struggling twice as hard to free herself from his grasp and Noctis bit his tongue as she slapped him, falling on his side but refusing to let go of her.

"Oww. Luna, I'm sorry, I want to help, but I can't unless…"

She blinked, the remnant of her nightmare still haunting her but recognition slowly making its way into her brain.

"Noct? I'm alive?"

His eyes twitched in pain as Noctis tried to swallow back a shuddering breath.

"I'm really alive?!" Luna insisted, gripping to his shirt, her panic overwhelming him.

"You are…"

"He stabbed me, didn't he? That's how it started… I mean how it ended."

He remembered seeing her from afar. Sensing the change in her magic and gasping while his body couldn't move, his broken back condemning him to watch in horror. He could barely find his voice and his words even less.

"How…? Luna, it's not…"

"I can still feel his dagger biting into me," she told him, her voice messy with her too rapid breathing.

 _Oh gods, why are you doing this to her?_

"You're safe," he tried reassuring her, but fell silent as Luna jumped to her feet to pull her dress off.

She almost got herself stuck in the fabric in her haste and asked for his help, still shaking violently.

"What are you doing?"

"I need to make sure it's not there," the young Oracle tried explaining, kicking the floor with the ball of her feet as she tried to fend off the dress that prevented her from seeing the wound she could still feel.

Noctis had the largest knot in his throat by then, but he helped her out of the garment, blushing as he realized she wasn't wearing a bra underneath. Luna was too frantic to worry about what he could and couldn't see, feeling her sides as she checked herself for any mark, any scar, any sign the fatal wound she'd dreamed up wasn't simply a dream.

"He stabbed me, I felt it, I was there, it was…"

But among the bruises from being handled too roughly by MTs and the few magic scars that were still healing from her fight against the Scourge, there was no wound. No hint to any stabbing.

"Luna, please, you're hurting yourself," Noctis pleaded for her to calm down, unable to handle her bewildered eyes any longer.

"I don't want to go like this," she told him, tears overflowing. "The scourge is still rampant and I…"

He drew her back to the bed so she would sit in his lap, until her head was next to his, his lips on her eyelids and their shivers shared.

"You're not going anywhere," he promised. "Not on your own and surely not without me."

"But that dream was the truth, wasn't it? It's why you kissed that very spot the other day, it's…"

He wanted to tell her wrong but he could see the awful pictures of Ardyn standing next to her whenever he blinked. If only he'd been able to hold her. To retain his consciousness after the battle. To feel something other than this longing and utter despair as her gentle face faded into a sea of sylleblossoms.

"I'm sorry," he managed through his tight throat, stroking her hair. "I should have protected you. I'm so sorry, Luna."

It was a harsh way to wake up, but holding on to each other helped them calm down, Luna soon apologizing for making him sad when they should have been focusing on the fact they were together.

"You've been through a lot, I don't want you to pretend you're happy for my sake."

"I'm not pretending," the princess assured him. "I'm glad you came for me."

She cupped his face at that, sniffling and flushing with embarrassment at how undignified she most certainly looked, Noctis brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Can I kiss you?"

His shyness was endearing and so was the way he leaned into her every touch. His hands on her bare back were soft and careful, his nose brushing hers as she pulled on his shirt to have him closer.

"Noct, for the time we're here… Don't ever ask me."

She initiated the kiss, a bit rough from her impression their time together was still limited. It was still so new but being almost fully naked in his arms already made her feel bolder and she pressed herself closer to him, Noctis leaning back on the bed while pulling her after him, grunting in approval as she laid her full weight on him.

"Lun…"

"Shh… Touch me. Help me feel alive."

Noctis held her waist firmly, his fingers outlining the healthy skin over her ribs before to drift all over her, drawing shivers and contented sighs from her while Luna followed her instincts. She discarded his clothes one by one, exploring him greedily, pinching, teasing, caressing and even daring to kiss and nibble at his skin before her prince turned them around.

They kissed tenderly, desperately, endlessly and it was a war between their need to breathe and their desire for connection, a battle between the gentleness they wanted to share and the rush they felt from this awful wake-up.

"I love you," she told him.

"I love you so much, Luna."

They leaned forehead to forehead an instant, his hands on either side of her face, her fingers drifting from his hair to his shoulders. Their breath had mingled long ago and they weren't sure how far things should go, Noctis feeling a lot more hesitant than her. Luna's hands were bold on his skin, making him gasp and stir and she smiled at the doubts in his eyes.

"Love me now," she invited him.

"Always," he wanted to correct her, but her hips moved in a way that left no place in his imagination as to what she wanted.

Their following kiss was heated, nothing but passion and lust and the hesitation was ready to die down when a violent knock on the door made them part to look up.

"Guys?" Prompto's nervous voice could be heard through the door.

"What is it?" Noctis shot back, his voice harsher than intended.

"I'm sorry, but you should look out your window. There's some… of those things."

Luna turned whiter than a sheet, Noctis slowly kneeling on the mattress as he looked at the door and then the window and back to the door.

"That can't…"

A violent scream and glass breaking in the neighboring room told him he had better check things out before assuming Prompto was messing around with him. He took the time to pull his pants back on and called forth his engine blade, Luna covering herself with the sheets. As he pulled the curtain open, Noctis couldn't hold back a gasp of horror.

Staring right into their window intently was Clarus Amicitia, black tar dripping from his eyes and ears, a pale woman that neither Noctis nor Luna recognized standing next to the previous King's Shield. Four hands were scrapping at the glass, the two undead's lips moving, their words muffled by the wind outside and the panel of glass between them. How had they even gotten up here?!

"Guys!" Prompto called, sounding desperate now.

Noctis couldn't move, his brain trying to process what he was seeing.

"They're gathering all over the place!"

"We need to get out," Ignis added from further away with a strain to his voice.

Pryna let out a whine and it kicked Luna and Noctis into action, the princess quickly throwing her dress back on, Noctis collecting their most important belongings into his infinite pocket while keeping an eye on the creatures outside. If he considered them like human, he wouldn't be able to run or fight them if they proved aggressive. Why had they even gathered here? Why?

"They got inside the hotel!" Prompto screamed. "S… stay back! Oh, for Etro's sake!"

Gunshots followed his warning and Noctis wrapped one arm around Luna before she could materialize her trident.

"They must be coming for me," she muttered, an apology written all over her face.

"We don't know that."

They didn't know anything. But at least they were together.

To be continued…

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I hope this chapter isn't weak, because I've had a rough week so far. The first half of the event I work in went well, but it was warm and demanding and there was a dead in my family. Feels like life wants to keep me down. It better stop trying before I snap.

After receiving your feedback, there will be no smut on this site's version of the story, but I publish the story on AO3 too, so next chapter will have two versions. Rest assured that I don't normally make different versions of my stories, this is a special case. I knew I might want to up the rating at some point by the time I put the story on AO3 while I hadn't when I first published it on here.

As a side note, Ardyn's lines are taken directly from the English version of the game and that dreadful scene I don't want to watch again. I don't like using parts of a game words for words when I write a fic, but this is a special case which shouldn't happen again, unless Luna has more nightmares.

As always, reviews motivate me greatly. 😊


	9. When your nightmares are real

A wild chapter has appeared! So this fic is verging on the horror side now, which wasn't really planned, but is really enjoyable. Let's take away that nasty cliffhanger from last time. I hope you enjoy the action and the following hurt/comfort.

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Calling Umbra

Chapter 8 – When your nightmares are real

Noctis had his armiger waiting to flicker awake upon stepping out of the room, meeting Prompto's desperate expression before to take note of the many "tar-berries" walking up the stairs and stepping over their already fallen comrades. They spoke low, repeating the word "penalty" and Luna was shivering against him now, her hands lighting up as she called upon her own magic.

For an instant, the tar-berries halted their motion and both Noctis and Prompto went still. There was a violent crashing sound coming from the other room, the one Ignis and Gladio were still occupying if Noctis wasn't wrong and next thing he knew, he heard the distinctive sound of glass shattering. Clarus's voice rose, an angry screeching that was covered by Gladiolus's even angrier shout.

Noctis was trying not to look too hard at the zombies' faces. Cause that had to be what they were. Zombies… His heart was beating madly and after standing still, staring at Luna's lit hands as though she was the messiah coming with a message from the heavens, they all suddenly took a step forward. He quickly counted how many people were standing in the hallway outside of Luna, Prompto and himself, his head turning as he recognized a few of them. Nyx was there, and so was that lady glaive he barely remembered. Crowe was it? Her eyes were a bright yellow and her skin greyer than Nyx's. One was his math teacher back in Highschool and Prompto must have recognized the lady too, for he whispered her name out of pure habit.

"You boys shouldn't be here," the woman observed. "Bad timing."

"What the hell is going…"

The tar falling from her eyes and nose took a life all of its own, like a parasitic entity stretching forward, and the other tar-berries shrieked, their bodies shifting, Prompto unable to hold back his panicked scream.

"Not again!"

Noctis understood this was the behavior that had gotten him to shoot at the tar-berries in the first place as bullets ripped through the air. Luna covered her ears, his arms holding her tighter as he let his armiger out. The undead were pushed back, one by one, but much to Noctis's dread, they were getting back up despite their wounds, tar seeping out of their gaping cuts, having the same reaction as a daemon made out of shadows and air. The aggression was clear, the killing intent just the same and while the word "penalty" still rang in the air, all the noises the prince could hear were grunts of pain, gunshots and Luna's ragged breath as he desperately held her to him.

"Don't let go, Luna. Whatever happens, don't you dare let go of me."

He wanted to pray for her safety, but keeping his armiger up and running with all of his nine weapons rushing through the air without risking harming Prompto while also keeping the freaky monsters at bay… It was giving him a headache and his whole body shook from the effort. Using the armiger for too long made him anemic and it wasn't time for weakness, but he had barely slept and… Luna's light almost instantly shone against his chest, where her hands were clutching to his shirt and as his eyes were crimson, her eyes gold and their eyes that cold, cold yellow, Noctis realized he could do this. All he hoped was that his friends could too. Prompto stepped up closer to the pair, careful of shooting with only one gun so he wouldn't deafen either of the royals.

"Iggy?" Noctis called out, barely able to determine which noise was coming from the adjacent room and which were the tar-berries or pieces of them falling down the stairs.

"Coming," the advisor answered with a grunt.

"This is the most awful real-life simulation of a video game I've ever been through!," Prompto squealed out, his voice raising as the black tar splashed around like blood and a few droplets hardened upon contact, stretching out to form a centipede-like net that started climbing up his leg, sending him to the floor in a panicked attempt to remove the thing from him.

Ignis nearly sprang out of the room then, Noctis unable to notice which one, merely parting his armiger to give his friend the chance to slip under the protection. The advisor was dragging Gladiolus with him, the Shield instantly noticing Prompto's predicament and hurrying to his side.

"Damn vermin," he groaned, cutting the net of tar with a pocket knife before lifting Prompto in the air and tossing him on his shoulder to make sure he would be out of reach from the thing. "Don't step on it."

"Hurry, this way," Ignis ordered them, having quickly located and secured a passage towards the emergency exit.

Noctis begged for his friends to stay within the armiger's width of protection and they soon realized that the only way to go was up. Noctis never let go of Luna, her light keeping him standing as the royal arms drew a curtain of metal between their little group and the tar-berries. Prompto was desperately trying to reload his guns and it was clear Gladio wanted to jump into the fray and hack through the undead until his rage was sated. He was only following them because Noctis's armiger would have certainly picked him by the collar and forced him forward if he didn't.

By the time they'd reached the roof, Luna was shaking like a leaf and Ignis offered her an ether, seeing as she was keeping Noctis's magic working.

"What are we going to do?" Prompto asked, helping Gladiolus in shutting the exit door close on the face of the monsters.

"We need to leave this time," the Shield declared.

Noctis looked around them, realizing that in all the panic, neither Umbra nor Pryna had followed them.

"My dogs…" Luna started.

"We didn't see them in your room," Ignis assured, quickly explaining how Gladiolus had jumped on their small balcony to come after his undead father.

"That's…"

"We need to get a move on!" Prompto screamed.

Noctis exchanged a brief look with Luna, who was too pale, still breathless and damn was he doing a bad job at protecting her even now.

"They must have run to safety, don't you think?" Noctis asked her, getting a light nod in answer.

"That's what we need to do ourselves. I see movements on the roofs to our right. Well, my right," Ignis added as he saw Noctis frowning after squinting his eyes.

They were all feeling lost, barely knowing Altissia and unsure if a safe place existed in this time.

"I might know a place," Luna offered. "We have yet to understand what drove them here, but I'm pretty certain that this wouldn't be happening if I hadn't insisted on talking to Nyx…"

"It's not the time for regrets and no one is going to blame you, Luna."

"Hell, at least we had some warning," Gladiolus groaned, being pushed forward by the swarm of bodies flinging themselves against the metal door. "I'll go anywhere that isn't here!"

Luna bit her lower lip, blood drawn when Noctis pulled her closer too roughly in reaction to jumpers hitting their roof.

"Shit! Where's that place?"

Luna bit back on her yelp, her light flickering against Noctis's chest.

"Make us cross to the north. I think I can find the way," she explained.

"How are we going to cross?" Prompto asked, his panic almost sounding normal now.

Noctis had an idea but it felt crazy and he knew they weren't going to like it.

"You're going to have to trust me, guys."

He lifted Luna in his arms, willing half of his swords to form a bridge while the rest remained moving to keep the zombies at bay.

"You can't be serious!" Ignis exclaimed.

"You want to be swarmed or risk breaking your neck?!"

"Stop asking silly questions and move!" Gladio snarled, pushing Prompto forward before to insist. "Move, move, move!"

They had never run so fast, and Prompto cursed the whole time they walked on thin air, swearing he'd never be jealous of Noctis's powers again. Luna took a second ether, keeping a third one in her hands as she held strong, so her prince could do the same. Her light was growing small and dim, and while the wind whipped their hair about, she had the feeling the night was swallowing them whole.

…

Lunafreya was ushered into the room right after Noctis, Prompto on her heels and Ignis already walking up to the windows while Gladiolus covered their rear. It didn't seem necessary, since this hotel had been abandoned months ago and Luna knew it because that was where Ravus would take her whenever he wanted to make sure their discussions were private. She still jumped as the door was pushed closed and hastily locked behind her. Much to her own shame, she yelped as the prince's Shield hurried around, ordering them to keep the lights off until he said otherwise.

They were all out of breath from running, all stressed out and she could feel their tense energy in the air, electrifying. Gladiolus inspected the place in a matter of seconds, calling the all-clear in the roughest voice his friends had ever heard him speak with.

All Luna could do at first was shiver between Noctis's arms and hold on to his shirt, holding back on her plea to be left behind if the tar-berries were truly attracted by her. She wanted to test her theory, she wanted to know her prince and his friends could be safe, but the selfish, too human side of her wanted to be kept safe. She already knew what was waiting for her and the penalty all the undead kept talking about reminded her of old legends. About what the gods did to the Oracle who couldn't listen properly.

 _It's fake, it's all fake, Ardyn was the one to tell you about those and he's…_

"Luna," Noctis whispered her name.

She gasped, bringing one hand over her mouth as she worried making a sound, any sound could attract more of _them_.

"Luna, you need to calm down, okay?"

"We all do," Ignis sighed. "Prompto, let go of that gun."

The blond man was struggling with reloading his handguns, the clips clicking against the metal, the shock settling in while the adrenaline slowly deserted him.

"Sorry."

"Shut up," Gladiolus groaned, kicking a chair in his haste to cross the room and check the door they'd come through once more, testing its lock.

Luna's eyes had gotten accustomed to the darkness and while her nerves were still raw, she took a minute to gather her surroundings, noticing how empty the room was. Two chairs by the bare counter, one couch that had seen better days in a corner, and empty bookcases collecting dust. She wondered if this was the specific floor where Ravus used to take her. He'd bring cold tea and sheets and helped her pass the time as she wondered when Noctis would make it here. Ignis shuffled across the room, giving a brief look into the bathroom and bedrooms that Gladiolus had already checked.

The silence was heavy between them and Luna wasn't sure she could focus on Noctis when she felt such a heavy burden on the four men in the room. There was something about the people they'd seen she didn't know, something beyond the brutal truth of seeing undead walking among the living. How terrifying was it to be alive among the dead…

Her voice didn't work as she tried to whisper Noctis's name, so she squeezed his hand, refusing to sit down as he gently nudged her shoulder, heaving a sigh at her stubbornness.

He was cut off in his attempt to convince her about taking some rest by Prompto checking on Gladiolus.

"Man, are you…" Prompto started.

"Don't talk," the Shield cut him off. "Your tar-monsters could be coming right now."

They all sincerely hoped that they weren't, because they doubted they could run like this once more. That fact they'd lost Umbra and Pryna weighed heavily on their mind, since without Umbra, there was no way they could head back to the present. Luna was still terrified by the possibility the present could be worse than this place.

Gladiolus stood still by the exit. So very still it was hard to say if he was still breathing without squinting. He'd fought his father, the notion Clarus had been killed in the fall of Insomnia thrown into his face on top of many contradictory feelings.

Luna's eyes fell on his large frame, her magic sensing the turmoil in his heart. It was practically radiating from him.

"Gladio," Ignis tried.

"I'm fine, don't give me that look," Gladio tried hard not to snap, his fists clenched and his shoulders shaking a little.

Luna distinctly heard Noctis swallowing as Prompto tried to talk sense into their friend.

"Dude, what's happening is messed up, how can you…?"

"It's not like I never wanted to throw my father off the third floor of a building!" Gladiolus bellowed, effectively obtaining silence. He blinked, his throat tightening as he saw the looks they were giving him. "The guy was always on my back, he was always…" his voice broke and he groaned in self-loathing, whipping about to punch at the nearest wall.

The paint crack and he cursed, since it seemed the walls were made of bricks underneath the drywall planks. Without thinking, he raised his other hand and punched the bricks once more, the cracking sound that followed making their stomachs twist.

"Gladio!" Noctis called out.

"I need to break something, okay?"

Prompto exchanged a worried look with Noctis, while Ignis shook his head, looking just as lost as the young prince. Luna found it hard to breathe, her chest oppressed by the very tension in the room. His father. Of all the undead who could show, the Shield had had to see and battle his own father. She stepped out of Noctis's arms, surprised her legs held her on the few steps, stopping just when Gladio's back was within reach.

"I'm sorry, Gladiolus," she tried, her voice steady despite the shivers still running through her.

She had seen such an anger before. So many times.

"What does it change, huh?" The Shield shot back, his shoulders shaking as he tried to keep himself together.

"It changes nothing, but I am sorry. Hurting yourself will not make the pain go away."

Gladio whipped about, his face scrunched up in a snarl, but his animosity died down when he felt the princess's hands on his arm. Even in the dark room, she could make out his eyes shining with a haunted look. His nostrils flared and there was a twitch to his brow as he fought against the many thoughts colliding inside.

"Your hands are bleeding. Give them here," she asked, slipping back in the familiar field of treating someone's wounds.

How many times had she bullied Ravus into accepting her light? How many times had she worked her magic on people who didn't want to be helped but whose family begged her to the point she couldn't say no anymore. She barely felt the weight of Noctis, Ignis and Prompto's stares on her shoulders. All her focus was on the person suffering in front of her.

"I'm…"

"…not fine," Luna finished for him. "Your knuckles are bruised and bloody."

His mouth closed, and his eyes blinked twice, the warning laced deep within shifting as his shoulders lowered. It was no use confronting people about how they felt when they could barely put words on it. But blood was concrete and bruises she could fix.

"I don't think you can reach my forehead," he started, frowning as he looked for anything to keep his mind off what had happened.

That made her smile and while she should have been wary of the man in normal circumstances, she knew from Noctis's letters that he was a kind, hard-working and devoted friend to her prince.

"Unless you lean over," she said, surprising the four men as Gladio simply obeyed, not unlike a child would his mother. Her prayer was brief and his skin mended, but her very touch reached something deep within the Shield.

"I feel like a godsdamn freakshow, guys," he managed as he started standing back up, clearly unable to handle his friends staring.

He wasn't used to being weak in front of people, but Luna stood there, light still in her palms, her touch foreign in its softness.

"Why was my mother there next to him?" he asked, his voice lower as he furiously blinked, his chest rising too quickly.

Luna held her breath, remembering how hard it had been to lay her own mother to rest. She heard Noctis's shock, she somehow sensed Ignis cursing and Prompto shuffling nervously and she could tell which one was doing what, but her eyes remained on Gladio as his words abounded. Like he couldn't stop talking after keeping it all inside for the time they'd run.

"She's been dead for longer, she shouldn't… I had to get them away when they broke in, but cutting them didn't work, there was just more of that black tar everywhere and then she fell. Her neck was crooked, but she got back to her feet and her eyes…"

He gripped to the Oracle's shoulders, his shaking growing worse.

"How am I going to tell Iris?"

The question was for no one in particular, but he sounded desperate and Luna wasn't sure she could support that mountain of a man if he was to collapse. Noctis had taken a tentative step forward, but no one dared to move as Gladiolus's walls cracked.

"She doesn't need this, but how do I _not_ tell her?!"

Lunafreya bit her lips, her hand reaching up from the side of his face to his hair in a gentle stroke. She knew no words could comfort him, she almost wished she wasn't a stranger so her touch could mean something, but her magic could only ease physical pain.

"It sounded like her. It sounded like both of them and…"

Gladiolus shuddered, his breath uneven and a broken sob escaped, making him angry and feeling even worse. She didn't know him, but she knew his pain, because they were stuck in a world, in a time, that made no sense and seemed bent to toy with their feelings until nothing sacred was left untouched. She remembered Nyx. Remembered the faces of too many people she knew. People she hadn't been able to save and couldn't save now.

His eyes fell down with the first tears and Luna couldn't help crying with him, even though the man dropped to his knees, clutching at her dress and threatening to bring her down with him. Instead, she stood, not tall, not strong, but steady.

"I didn't mean to break her," he said. "She looked at me as though she knew who I was, even with her neck all wrong… Why did it have to be my mom?"

Luna's throat was too tight, and she wanted to apologize again, she wasn't sure when she'd sank to sit on her heels to better hold him, but suddenly, Noctis was there next to her, talking to Gladio, trying to reach out to him while not knowing how. Prompto kneeled on the other side of the man, and through the pathetic sobbing, the Shield begged them to leave him be before finally giving up.

"If you want to blame someone, blame me," Noctis tried apologizing. "I took you here."

"And I protect you, Noct. I'll be damned if I don't."

"You did a good job today," Noctis assured him.

A sharp intake of breath was Noctis's only warning before Gladio pushed him away a bit rougher than he'd intended.

"This is not the time for this… I'm stronger than…"

"Man, it's okay to hurt," Prompto told him. "We all do."

Gladio angrily dried his eyes, over and over to no avail, accepting Prompto's hug with a self-derisive chuckle, patting the blond man on the back and slowly getting to his feet, helping Lunafreya back up, his expression still quite haunted.

"Thank you, highness," he said, voice hoarse.

"Luna is fine," she assured him.

"Now, can we turn on the bloody light?" Ignis asked, giving an affected clap to Gladio's shoulder.

"Oh, is that the extent of your empathy, Ig?" the Shield joked, pulling him in for a half hug that was more hard pats on the back than anything and left the advisor coughing.

"I was trying to lighten the mood. Poorly, I admit."

But he gave Gladiolus a longer look, as though to apologize properly for not having the right words to counter his misery. The tallest man of the lot heaved a sigh, finally looking steadier on his feet. They all knew he was hurting and that the pain wouldn't leave this quickly but allowing himself to speak up and have this brief breakdown had helped making it more manageable.

"I'd rather no one had any lights on if you can all deal with staying in the dark," he started. "We all need rest."

"Tomorrow, we need to decide how to deal with this."

"And find the dogs," Prompto added.

"I really wish I could have grabbed Pryna. She's slower than she used to be," Luna deplored.

"She'll be fine," Noctis promised. "Umbra is with her."

"And we've all seen how the tar-berries would evade them," Ignis observed.

Luna wanted to pick up on that fact, but her voice was too low and Gladio spoke faster.

"Right now, guys, we had better worry about what's happening with us," he reminded them. "As in, _not me_ , but how tired everyone is."

"Oh come on, you went through something really traumatizing, if you need someone to snuggle with tonight…"

Prompto was teasing, but Gladiolus glared at him hard enough for the gunman to close his mouth and after making sure his friends all felt somehow fine and agreeing on a taking turns to watch out for potential undead, Noctis and Luna retired to one room, Ignis insisting on taking the first shift while Gladiolus threatened Prompto that he'd better stay in his own duffle.

"I think his manliness was endangered by that display of emotion," Noctis joked around to reassure Luna about the way his friends were bantering.

It felt surreal to find themselves alone again and although sheepishly, Luna admitted she was terrified by the single window in their room, so Noctis made sure to cover it well, using the moldy sheets on the bed and grimacing as he considered the bed. He really didn't want her to sleep on there and started pulling sleeping bags from his infinite pocket, turning on the light from his phone to see Luna better. She was toying with a stray lock of hair, twirling it anxiously.

"This was a really scary night," he sighed. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"I'm sorry I couldn't muster the strength to raise my trident and do something out there," Luna objected.

"Are you kidding me? You fueled my armiger for over two hours. I can barely use it fifteen minutes normally and never with that many arms at once."

Luna paled a little more, biting on her lower lip.

"As time wore on, it felt like your skin was crackling from over-using the armiger. Helping you was the least I could do. You're stuck here because of me after all."

"I came here of my own volition," Noctis opposed her. "And if facing a zombie apocalypse is what it takes to hold you in my arms, I'm signing up."

"This isn't a movie," Luna observed, sounding too serious. "I don't know if this is real, but you and your friends have been getting hurt. What would happen to the present if any of you died here?"

Noctis froze an instant, and then a second more and a third as he slowly revisited the most recent events. Gladio's breakdown. Ignis's silence and the tears in his eyes the other day. Prompto who tried to stay strong for all of them, ever since Altissia, his blond friend had been pushing himself far too hard to hold them together… He was risking them all. His brothers. Not just their lives, but their sanity too. He wasn't afraid of dying, for some reason, that had stopped worrying him somewhere during the battle against Leviathan. But losing any of his friends… Crestfallen, he tried to swallow it all back, because the idea any of them could be turned into those tar-berries.

"They survived Altissia, surely that means…"

Luna swallowed back the question that instantly came to her. What if taking her back to the present meant they had to pay a price for it? A _penalty_ …

"I'm sorry Noct, this was very inconsiderate of me. They'll be fine," she whispered, fingers wrung together, her eyes red but looking at him with a serious expression.

Her shoulders were still shaking, but it was hard to notice in the dark and Luna had barely shifted forward, so all he could see was her face, genuine worried about him.

"But maybe not," he said. "You have a point. How can Gladio be fine after…"

He plopped himself on the nest of sheets and sleeping bags he'd made for her, his fingers tugging on his hair as he wrestled the idea. He was hurting them all by being selfish and he couldn't even give Luna a reprieve by staying here with her. Were the tar-berries appearing here because of him? Was she suffering more because of him?

"Dear Noctis, please…"

"Don't call me that!" he snapped, panic taking over as he remembered the words from that fading dream. Luna gaped at him and he noticed blood on her lip, which had him reaching for her face, his princess pulling away just enough for it to hurt. "Are you okay? I'm sorry for yelling, I..."

"No, it's fine, I bit my tongue earlier. Maybe I should have done this now too…"

"Oh Luna… You didn't say anything wrong, I've been risking my friends all the time on this journey, not just now. Losing them just feels more… more probable right now. And when you… I think after _passing…_ ," he choked on the remaining word, shoulders slumping and a broken sob making its way up his throat, his hands reaching for hers desperately. Luna couldn't speak, couldn't move, because she knew now, and his pain was so raw, it resonated with a void threatening to devour her heart.

 _I'm not dead. Please, let me be not dead yet._

"…you visited my dreams," Noctis continued. "Calling me… You talked more to me in that dream than we'd had in… You're here now, Luna, and I'm here and I don't want to let anything, nor anyone, take that away from us."

His tears spilled, and Luna wasn't sure what to tell him or why the painful hole inside her filled up almost instantly. She wrapped her arms around him, fighting against her own tears as she whispered to his ear.

"Haven't we cried enough? I'm certain you cried all the tears I could have wanted to shed and this time we have now, I'd like to make it count. I want to know I can make you happy now, in person, not just in letters. I want you ridiculously happy, Noct."

Her hands had cupped his face and Noctis wanted to cry some more even though he struggled to hold himself together, managing a frail smile.

"I want you happy too."

She smiled at him, her sweetest smile and he could believe in their happiness once more. All it took was them together.

To be continued…

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Gladio is in bad shape and so are the guys. Noct/Luna fluff in next chapter, clearly, and more, but I don't want to say anything more, because I don't have anything planned yet. I wanted to put more Noct/Luna hurt/comfort here, but this chapter was getting long for Umbra's standards. I swear, the dogs are fine, coming back soon.

Please review, you know how happy it makes me 😊


	10. Bold love

This chapter is extremely short, but that's because the smut version end up twice as long. And switching to what I want to write afterwards would clash quite a bit. Enjoy some pure Lunoct fluff.

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Calling Umbra

Chapter 9 – Bold love

 _His tears spilled, and Luna wasn't sure what to tell him or why the painful hole inside her filled up almost instantly. She wrapped her arms around him, fighting against her own tears as she whispered to his ear._

" _Haven't we cried enough? I'm certain you cried all the tears I could have wanted to shed and this time we have now, I'd like to make it count. I want to know I can make you happy now, in person, not just in letters. I want you ridiculously happy, Noct."_

 _Her hands had cupped his face and Noctis wanted to cry some more even though he struggled to hold himself together, managing a frail smile._

" _I want you happy too."_

"And pleased. And content. And laughing if possible," she went on, finding the nerves to tickle his armpits which had him smiling for real this time, grabbing her hands as he tried resisting her surprise attack.

"We should be careful not to make too much noise. The guys need some sleep. And I want you rested and well."

Luna promised not to tickle him again, drying his tears and shifting closer to him so she could taste the salt on his cheek. Something shifted inside of her, a realization that this might be her only chance and while she didn't want to say it out loud, the urgency that came with that thought made her lean just a little harder into him, her lips finding his in the slow dance they had started to learn since his arrival in this time.

"You taste like blood," he deplored as they parted for air.

"Which means I'm alive. Taste me more."

Noctis flushed at the bold words, gasping as she pushed him down until he was lying on his back.

"What… whoa, Luna!"

"I want you, Noct. I've wanted your arms around me and…" She blushed despite her resolve, swallowing back her own shyness, her hands deftly tugging at the buttons of his shirt, slowly uncovering his chest. Her eyes were focused on her task and Noctis wasn't sure how to react.

Her words were doing things to him, and the very touch of her fingertips on his skin lit the fire he had quelled again and again as he longed for her.

"And…?" he couldn't help asking her, blushing as much as she did when she shook her head in answer. The lust on her face felt contagious and her voice hummed in approval as his own hands started roaming her body, she gasped as he stroked her chest through the fabric of her clothes, but she smiled at him and held on his wrist to make sure he'd understand the touch was welcome. "Luna, are you really…?"

"I don't want to miss this chance. If this was your last night with me, what would you want to do, Noct?"

His eyes widened, the flush getting to his ears, even though he could tell his blood was going south. Way, way south. She had to sense it and he wasn't sure how he was supposed to hide or not hide his reaction.

"I…"

"It's okay, dear Noctis. Let your body react to mine."

She was straddling him now, pulling her dress higher on her legs to have less fabric keeping them apart. Her breathing was too fast, and he wasn't sure how to answer. Her urgency scared him, but could he risk missing this chance of truly being with her? If he only had one night to love her, if…

"I don't want to think you won't…"

Luna guided his hands, leaning forward as he rose on one elbow, his throat too tight, lips tingling.

"Tell me," she cut him off. "There's no need to hold back. I don't care how much time we have, I don't want regrets when the sun comes up."

He couldn't stand it anymore, holding her closer so their lips could clash together, his tongue demanding and hungry for more of her. Luna moaned into his mouth, her hands finding his scalp while he pulled at her offending dress, fabric keeping them apart when he needed to feel her. She felt warm, warm which meant she was alive and that thought alone…

He didn't want to imagine her like those tarberries, he didn't want to lose sight of the beautiful woman she was or for his memories of her to be tainted if she were to start crying black tar like they all did.

"Stop my brain from worrying so I can focus on you, Luna."

"You haven't answered me yet. How bold must I get to encourage you?" she teased him, her hips grinding into his for just an instant.

The way he closed his eyes and barely contained a groan told her she was on the right track.

"I want… to touch you everywhere," he started. "To learn every curve. Every sound."

"Me too." Her hands gripped his biceps and he huffed as her nails dug into his skin.

They had both been starved, so starved for any kind of intimacy, for a touch they wanted. He knew strangers had touched her, she still had bruises which made him worry some of her moans weren't good, but she was clear eager for more and it was both terrifying and exhilarating.

He guided her head back to him, kissing her hard, wondering if he could be soft again when he felt so raw. He rolled them to the side, fighting against his urge to kiss a path down her neck, to tease her pale skin with his teeth like she grazed him with her nails, because her tongue stroking his was mesmerizing. They parted for half a minute, just the time to find their breath again, but Luna seemed to realize what she was doing once more, for she tensed against him, her reaction alarming the young man.

"You okay?"

He'd been careful of not putting any weight on her and Luna shook her head.

"I want this," she assured him. "I know I'm safe here. This is just… overwhelming."

"I don't want to trigger bad memories," he whispered to her, cupping her face.

"You won't."

"I don't know what I'm doing, Luna," he confessed.

"Well, it is my first time too."

He swallowed, and she offered him a frail smile. He couldn't help but kiss her, in soft, quick pecks this time, leaning his forehead against her.

"You really want me?" he asked.

"I do. But I might need… more control?" she sounded disappointed in herself saying that.

"You seemed confident when you were on top of me," Noctis mused, grinning as her face flushed a little more.

"I am the older one, so I guess I should do the teaching for this."

Her eyes were resolute, and he was only too happy to subject himself to her teaching, as he proved with the words he blurted out almost instantly.

"Please teach me."

They both laughed at his eagerness.

"On your back," Luna asked back, frowning as she realized how much like an order that sounded. "I mean…"

"You wanted me to tell you what I wanted, sounds fair that you'd do the same. Can the dress go?"

He punctuated his question by obediently lying down on his back and Luna felt her heart swell at the confidence and respect he had for her. She wanted to give it back to him. She wanted to give him the best of her, so he could have actual memories to cherish instead of a simple dream. It hurt and made her chest tighter, but she kept it at bay as his arms welcomed her, as their hands slowly tried to learn what they liked, what they wanted.

It felt raw, and desperate, but she knew it was theirs and nothing could break it, not the bruises on her skin or the scars that marred his body. Their whispers had shifted into the night, their sighs too high, her voice threatening to come out while he groaned despite how quiet he knew she wanted them to be.

She refused to let go of him after love, panting against his chest and muttering nonsense in her daze, Noctis holding her close, his hands in her hair, rubbing her back and his lips kissing her temple and shoulder in turns.

"I love you," he said, unsure any other words could be enough to describe how he felt.

"I love you, Noct." Her voice broke a little. Reality was coming back to her. "I love you so much, I don't want to…"

"Luna, please, please, I'm here, you can ask me anything."

"Don't leave without me. I need more of you. All of you."

"Oh Luna… Luna, don't cry, we were just pretending if this was our last night together, it's only a beginning."

"I'm sorry, you felt so sweet just now, I…"

"Luna…"

She tried to keep her tears under control, to swallow back the sobs because it wasn't the time, she'd said so herself.

"Love me more?"

"Always."

"I meant… I meant now," she clarified, flushing in between her tears.

"Now _and_ always," Noctis insisted. "Dry those tears first, my princess."

It took everything he had to keep his own tears at bay, but he still held the conviction in his heart that she could make it out of here alive. He laid her down in their makeshift bed, holding her close as he gently tamed her fears for the future to have her focusing on their present. They made love until sleep claimed them, snuggled close, their dreams filled with each other. It was safer than they'd ever felt in a while.

To be continued…

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I believe this chapter is a bit of an intermission, but those poor royals needed a break after all the rough stuff happening. I will try to belt out another chapter soon to make up for how short this one was. Not making any promises since I am quite busy lately. As always, you know the best way to motivate me is through reviews. 😊


	11. Tripped in bed, did you?

I know this was a long wait. And I have the distinct suspicion some of you are going to hate me. But we're so much closer to the truth of the matter here. This chapter starts soft before turning into… something else. Enjoy your read!

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Calling Umbra

Chapter 11 – Tripped in bed, did you?

Noctis woke up to Prompto's scandalized scream, almost slapping Luna's chest in his haste to get out of bed and rush out of the room. The pair had thrown clothes on haphazardly before drifting to sleep, in case of a bad surprise catching them throughout the night, but what was actually going on in the common room left the prince baffled.

The gunman was red in the face, while Gladio laughed, clapping Ignis in the back, the advisor barely catching his glasses from falling off his face and rolling his shoulders as he scoffed at Prompto.

"What is so shocking? I _do_ miss sex." Ignis stated so matter-of-factly, Noctis wondered if his ears had broken from the whispers he'd heard through the night. "And no, Gladio, not with my hand."

That sounded… almost crude coming from Ignis, but Gladiolus snorted. It was only when he noticed the pointed look Ignis was giving him that he raised one brow and his voice.

"What's that supposed to mean? I've seen plenty of action and I certainly had no need to jerk off by my lonesome during this trip," the Shield boasted.

Noctis cleared his throat, hoping Luna wouldn't follow him outside, but he felt her hand on his arm. He took a gentle step back, wishing to shield his princess from the current teasing aimed at him and indirectly, at her.

"Oh, if it isn't the new man on the team! Look at how grown our boy is, Ig. So, who did the riding, cowboy?" Gladio greeted him.

Prompto met Noctis's flustered gaze and made a brief "hang in there" gesture to his friend, looking pretty embarrassed. The realization his friends had heard bits and pieces of the past night hit and all of a sudden, Noctis didn't know where to stand anymore.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Like birdhead would say, sorry not sorry, your duo performances kept us from sleeping, you'd better believe you'll hear some of it in the morning."

Luna leaned into Noctis to better peek into the room, the prince clearly intent on protecting her from the teasing going on, but she wasn't going to let him face it alone, even though her hair was a mess of tangles even after she'd run her hands through it and her skin warmed by pink on both cheeks.

"I…" Her voice faded a little and she shook her head, her eyes looking up as she repeated to herself she didn't have to feel embarrassed. "I apologize if we… deprived you from sleep."

She was wringing her hands, paled and blushing despite her best intentions. Prompto shook his head, Ignis elbowing Gladiolus at the sight of the disheveled princess.

"Act like a decent noble for a few hours, Gladio," he suggested.

The Shield shoved him back, bowing his head to Luna with a smug expression on his face.

"No need for an apology, lady O. I was a bit worried last night. We barely heard you, I hope he treated you right. I tried giving him tips, would he listen?""

Noctis could have warp-striked him right then, but Luna reacted first, her voice remaining calm, but the hint of a smirk .

"Don't you know a woman doesn't need to be vocal for her to be pleased?"

All the men present blinked as she paused, Prompto gaping like a fish, Ignis holding back a comment that would have made sure Gladio realized all the underlying tones to this question the Oracle asked, but the man was already staring at her, dumbfounded.

"Since you insist on knowing, we had a _very_ pleasant time."

The Shield looked sheepish at that, snorting to regain his countenance.

"Glad to hear so. And don't worry about me, I never left a woman wanting."

Ignis slapped him at that.

"I know a couple of maids in Insomnia who'd beg to differ with that notion."

"Hey!"

"Enough!" Noctis ordered them, his nerves too on edge.

"Noct is right. Come on in, both of you, no need to stand in the hallway forever. I'll prepare some rations for breakfast," Ignis offered.

Noctis glared at Gladio as he stepped into the main room, one arm wrapping around Luna instinctively. He had no idea what to tell his friends. They all had dark circles around their eyes and Prompto's frame was shaking every now and then just from how exhausted he was. He wasn't sure how he felt so rested with how physical his own night had been, but he had no regrets about it.

"So Prom… How about a game of king's knight?"

"Why not…"

They were all sitting on the floor, passing each other energy bars and canned food, Ignis apologizing for the frugality of their meal. Gladio couldn't help teasing Noct just a bit more as he gave him a carton of juice.

"Stock up on electrolytes. You definitely need to recharge."

His meaning went way over Noct's head, while Luna fought against a blush and Ignis rolled his eyes at the immaturity of the man.

"What?"

"You don't need to know," his advisor assured.

"What I'd like to know is when Gladio even found the time to chat up girls. We almost never stayed in any town," Prompto mustered.

He felt embarrassed of being the only virgin left on the team, but mostly of not having managed successful flirting even once since they'd set out of Insomnia.

"I have my ways. Sania is way more than a bookworm," the Shield said.

"Are you serious?"

"Coctura hid some pretty kinky habits. As long as we don't waste food."

"Oh, shut up!" Ignis sighed.

Prompto and Noctis were just wondering when this had all happened.

"But the best was Holly. Damn, she actually taught me a thing or two."

"Holly?" Luna repeated, thinking of the magic of the same name.

"That woman is old enough to be your mother!" Noctis exclaimed.

"Never underestimate experience. She wanted someone to fix her back and one thing led to another…"

"Manwhore," Prompto called him.

"You're just jealous!"

Luna tugged on Noctis's sleeve, looking pale and quite flustered.

"Are they always…?"

"No! No, they aren't like that usually. Guys!"

…

After breakfast, they quickly gathered their things, Noctis and Luna barely able to exchange a few words in private. The streets outside were eerily quiet, the sun peeking out from beneath heavy-looking clouds.

"How does calling Umbra work?" Prompto asked, keeping his voice down.

They were all quite jumpy from how quiet and empty the city remained. It should have been the middle of the day already, but Ignis observed that the clock on his phone had stopped. There was no wifi or network, and while they had no immediate use for their phones, the guys went through a brief panic at the realization. If any of them were to separate from the group, they had no means to contact each other.

"It's easier near hotels or motels," Noctis answered his friend. "Guess Umbra was really impressed by how much I like to sleep."

His attempt at humor barely released any tension from the group. Luna was walking close to him, not refusing the arm he wrapped around her shoulders whenever he sensed weakness from her. It seemed she'd used up most of her energy the previous night, her steps hesitant even though she did her best not to hold them back.

"I don't need any break," she reassured him. "Let's just get out of here."

They were all wondering where the people had gone. Was everyone tarberries?

Locating the closest hotel wasn't too hard. But no matter how hard Noctis focused, Umbra just wouldn't show. And as time went by, the streets remaining eerily quiet, Luna felt a shift in the air. A shift in magic that tasted almost like the blight.

She tried to swallow back the wrongness, but it permeated through everything, making her shiver uncontrollably.

"Luna?" Noctis asked her.

She held herself, looking too pale, her teeth chattering together. The guys realized how the temperature had dropped and the fog coming from their mouth as they breathed out.

"Who hit the switch on the horror vibe?" Prompto tried to diffuse his own fear.

A screech coming from a back-alley made him scream like a girl, each of them tensing and or jumping from the sudden noise. They unsheathed their weapons without a second thought, and it was a good thing considering what rushed out of that back-alley.

"Shit!"

They couldn't recognize the people, their eyes dripping with black tar, their joints at odd angles as they ran and slithered about, slowly invading the streets. The sky darkened, and the prince's retinue realized the clouds themselves were made of the same black tar. Thunder roared and rain poured down. Luna yelped at the first drop on her skin. It burned, leaving red blisters on their exposed skin!

"This isn't rain!" Gladio exclaimed, raising his left arm to cover his head, his body instinctively moving closer to Noctis in case his protégé needed to be shielded from the rain.

Ignis immediately spotted proper cover for the group, ushering them towards a bridge, Prompto gasping with every new drop hitting him, still aiming his guns at the tarberries walking in their creepy and shifty gait towards them. The black tar sizzled under the rain, gushing from their very pores, the paler faces turning red and black with it, the white of their eyes filling with black.

Luna recognized Nyx amongst them once more, despite how inhuman he looked. If Noctis hadn't wrapped one arm around her to lift her and started warping forward to take her to safety quicker, her legs might have remained frozen. Instead, she held on to him, fighting against the dizziness hitting her at the violent movements. She covered her mouth as soon as the motion halted, glad to have the bridge above her head to block the boiling rain. Her scalp smarted from the few drops that had fallen on her hair.

"Something feels very wrong in the magic around us. I sensed it even before… these precipitations," she explained to Noctis as he caught his breath, his royal arms deploying protectively around them.

More tarberries were walking toward them, led by a limping man with grey hair that reminded the prince of his father far too much. His left hand tensed on her waist and Luna bit back a moan of pain, the soreness in her flesh mixing with how much the blighted air affected her.

"Why are there so many of them?!" Prompto groaned.

"Just keep shooting while Iggy comes up with a plan," Gladiolus growled back, switching his bastard sword for a bashing shield. He used it as an umbrella to allow Ignis to look a little further into the city and its port.

They were in a maze of streets that neither of them was too used to, and checking a map didn't sound like the best option to either of them.

"We're going to get swarmed at this rate. We need to move," the advisor warned. "Noct, can you block this rain with…?"

"No way I can, Specs. Holding the armiger far enough to have us all walking inside it would drain me too quickly…"

"Even if I used my magic to reinvigorate you?" Luna offered.

"Oh, now I see how you two managed to keep at it all night," Gladio whistled.

Luna flushed while Noctis snapped at his bodyguard "Is this really the time?!"

Unfazed, Ignis threw a fire flask at the tarberries approaching from the fire had them roaring and grunting, but the tar didn't burn, melting and shifting forward in a spider-like web, something retaining only a few limbs. The very motions was disturbingly intriguing, the tar stretching like a dart, breaking off and melting and reforming to stretch, break and melt once more, over and over. Were all of these people one single entity? What horror had he awakened by coming back to this time? Where were Umbra and Pryna?

"Going to run out of bullets here," Prompto warned.

Noctis knew his friends were as terrified as him. Their brief reprieve was over and they needed to follow some course of action before finding themselves surrounded with no means to escape but to fight their way through. He didn't want anyone _tarberrified_ … And he had the feeling being swallowed by that black tar didn't mean you were trapped.

 _I wish I hadn't watched all those movies…_

His eyes caught a spot of white etched between the bricks and stones making up the streets. A pair of black eyes met his, a bark echoing in his mind and Luna relaxed a little against him, as though she could feel her without even seeing her.

"Pryna!" he recognized the dog.

Her ears were lowered, the poor thing yapping in pain with every new raindrop hitting her.

"Umbra mustn't be far. Guys, you get Luna to safety, I'll go get…"

"You're not going alone!"

"I'll be faster that way," Noctis defended his decision without thinking much further.

Prompto wanted to offer to go in his stead, while both Ignis and Gladio were ready to object, more worried about finding a spot where they could be safe. Noctis was already zipping forward, a blue blur pushing tarberries aside.

The rain still got to him, boiling against his skin and he could only imagine what the poor Pryna was going through. She yapped in fear at his approach, Noctis hitting a halt and dropping the royal arms if only to reassure the white dog that he was indeed a friend and not one more of the monsters roaming the streets.

"Hey girl. Why are you staying out in the rain like that? Do you know where Umbra is?"

It was hardly fair that only of the dog could take them back to the past and travel through time. Noctis had always wondered if Pryna wasn't a bit more of his own reflection in the way she had gotten hurt and remained diminished from it ever since.

Pryna's ears lowered and she sniffed, shivering as a few more raindrops hit her. Noctis couldn't bear the sight and gently lifted her in his arms, trying to keep his surroundings in check even though he wanted to comfort the small dog. She was whimpering as he held her and trembling in such a way, his heart clenched. He remembered the nightmare where she'd been guiding him. How she fell out of touch from him. A vision to warn him of what would happen to Luna…

"You're safe now, I'll get you back to Luna," he whispered to her, calling back his armiger.

The rain grew heavier, his shoulders burning and his back smarting. Was the world trying to send him a message that his intention to save Luna was completely doomed?

 _Snap out of it, Noct!_

He looked back up for his friends and realized the tarberries were moving in. Luna had to be so scared, he remembered how much she'd shivered between his arms the previous night. They'd had a handful of hours of peace and now…

"Hang tight, girl," he whispered, throwing himself into the air after propelling his sword forward.

He zipped and warped, zapping over a group of moaning tarberries, tripping on some outstretched tar, blinking once and desperately phasing parts of his body to keep moving while keeping his arms solid as he realized… Those things had changed tactics from last night. They had started to just let the tar expand in that hard and sticky web of blood-like fume. Dark webs on the sky, dark webs on the ground, some of them rising in the air, turning his world in a mismatched maze of dark matter that threatened to keep him away. The tar hissed at every contact with the boiling rain, raising a purple mist that dimmed every other obstacle. He could barely see his friends anymore as he struggled to push forward. And then he heard their whispers. Their chant.

"Penalty. Penalty. Bring out the red penalty."

Pryna whined pitifully, slipping out of his grasp and Noctis knew his magic was running thin, he needed an ether but his feet were getting stuck in another tar-web and this time he couldn't help a scream as he summoned bolts of lightning hoping none of his friends were too close.

"He's there!" Gladiolus called.

A bark through the mist gave Noct a glimpse of hope. Umbra was back, that had to be Umbra, he just needed to clear up the air in front of him with his armiger, but the weapons were fading out.

 _I came here to save her, I came here to save her, I've defeated the freaking ocean the last time we were here!_

"Noctis!" Luna pleaded for him.

"I'm here!" he called back, managing to zip forward one last time to escape from the net the tar was trying to wrap around him. Boiling water hit his tongue, his eyes, he wanted to curl up in a ball but staying still was too dangerous. He heard Prompto screaming and Ignis grunting and Gladio had to be taking the worse of it…

 _This is all my fault. This is all my fault,_ Noctis couldn't help his thoughts.

Her hand hit him square in the face as she was reaching out and he barely closed his eyes in time, raising both arms to catch her, recognizing her scent amidst the burning tar, the moldy air and that wet-dog smell invading his senses.

"Luna?"

"We need to get out now!"

He held her closer, grateful for her voice, catching a glimpse of her as he blinked. Her face was blotched with red marks from the rain. Her whole frame quivered and he raised one hand, desperately summoning his engine blade, his most familiar weapon to know he had something to put between her and the horror unfolding.

Umbra yelped at their feet as they rounded up in a tighter circles, Prompto's gun clicking empty and Gladio cursing out loud.

Noctis kneeled to the ground, keeping Luna painfully close, refusing to let go of her, not even to look for the poor Pryna… He gave a quick look around and spotted Prompto sheltering the white dog with his body.

"Guys! Guys, get over here!" he ordered. He rested one hand on Umbra's head, his other arm around Luna, feeling her breath on his throbbing skin, knowing she was alive in this instant, amidst the madness. "Grab on to me, guys!"

Prompto and Ignis's hands were the first on him, handing on each of his shoulders, Gladio taking only a few more seconds to step back and pulling at his hair as he reached backward, drawing a large arc in the air with his sword to dissuade the approaching tarberries from taking another step.

 _Take us back, take us back, Umbra, all of us._

The pull through space and time was instantaneous and as the world shifted and the mist vanished, the four men mentally screamed, for their senses were a lot more scattered than the last time they'd tried this. It felt like the fastest and longest elevator trip, their insides dragged up and down and backward while their body refused to move. If they blinked, all they could see was a never-ending rainbow that ran from color to pure darkness and a sentence rang over the ear-shattering silence.

 _ **The red core burns…**_

And as violently as the noise had stopped, they were yanked back to reality, the four of them standing on the street, Prompto falling to his knees instantly, Ignis dropping his cane, Gladiolus looking for his blade even though it hadn't been drawn and…

Noctis closed his arms onto thin air. Blinked twice and thrice before looking around. In every direction. At every person staring at their group with wide eyes.

 _Luna?_

His voice didn't work as the notion came to him that she hadn't followed. What she'd warned him about all this time, and she wasn't…

"Guys!"

"Thank the gods it's over," Prompto sighed.

"Hey, Iggy…"

Ignis couldn't help blinking, because his sight was gone and no matter how unsightly the last thing he'd seen, he already missed it, like a bird missed its wings.

"I'm f…fine," he grumbled, mustering all the will he could to still his shuddering voice. "What… Noct, what's wrong?"

Prompto and Gladiolus both had the senses to focus back on their prince and paled as they saw him kneeling next to Umbra and no one else. No white dog. No Oracle. Their throats tightened and Noctis held his hands out, as though he could pull Luna out of thin air.

"I had her right here," he whispered, shaking his head from side to side. "I could feel her breathing next to me."

"Noct," Ignis repeated.

"Can't you see Iggy?!" The prince motioned at all the empty space around him, his eyes reduced to two slits.

 _Oh god, what are you doing, Noct, of course he can't!_

But the pain blinded him to reason.

"I can't see but I can hear. There are people staring. We should…"

"I had her!" the prince was howling by now, his voice ringing violently in everyone's ears.

Gladio gave harsh looks to the bystanders, effectively having them look away and hurry to their own business. Noctis didn't even acknowledge the gesture, he couldn't focus on either of his friends, he couldn't stop gesturing, grasping for her hands, his knees hurting as he knelt there on the pavement.

"I finally had her, and she's gone!" Noctis's voice broke half a dozen times, dark locks falling into his eyes as he shook his head even more angrily. "Why did I have to lose her again? What are they even doing to her now?!"

He bit on his lower lip as he felt it trembling, wishing for control, any kind of control, but it was gone, like she was gone and his mind wouldn't come back, nothing could feel right, she hadn't been a simple dream this time, he'd held her, kissed her, he'd…

"Noct…" Ignis tried to call on his good sense.

"Oh shut up Iggy, no logic can explain it and you know that!"

Luna was lost. His Luna was lost. His hope had been false all this time and now he had to face a world without her. A double loss and an empty, lonely existence without her hands, without her smiles, without her frail laugh and that look in her eyes that had made him so embarrassed the previous night. Except it wasn't even the previous night. A second hadn't passed since their shift in time.

 _It was supposed to be different. We were supposed to…_

He crumbled on himself, hitting his forehead against the pavement twice before remaining prone, his breathing too hard, his shoulders shaking so hard, his bones had to make noises. Why couldn't the ground swallow him whole and send him back?

Umbra's muzzle poked against his jaw as the dog whined his own pain.

 _Unless… Unless she simply got stuck on the way and was waiting for him?_

He looked back up, a bruise showing on his head and the burns from the rain finally appearing, which had to mean that past was following them in a way. Prompto and Gladio both frowned, Ignis's perceiving the shift in his liege's silence.

"No, Noct, you can't…"

"I have to try one more time," the prince objected, his fists punching the pavement to support his claim.

Physical pain almost made this living nightmare bearable.

"We'd said it would be the last time!" Gladiolus protested.

"Do you all want me to just give up on her?! Didn't you see what was out there with her?!"

Veins were showing on his neck as he screamed too hard and Prompto wanted to offer him a hug, but Noctis looked nearly feral by now. Each member of his retinue was afraid of what would happen if they tried anything too sudden.

"We're messing around with forces we don't understand," Ignis cautioned him as best as he could with a trembling voice, and the fact he had no idea where his eyes were looking.

"You don't have to come this time, I get this is… hard for you too." What an understatement. But Noctis's mind was made up. They were going back. "Who's with me?"

How was his Shield supposed to say no?

To be continued…

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Yes, to be continued. This story isn't over yet. And I can't tell exactly what will be happening in the next chapter, because the suspense is a big part of it. But let's just say that we're not done with this "past" Altissia just yet. I have more to tell. And there is fluff to come! Reviews are welcomed as always!


	12. It's not a loop, but you might go crazy

This chapter is incredibly short, but otherwise, I feel it wouldn't work so well. I'm really close to completing this story, so I might keep updating it more regularly – especially with the length of these chapters. I hope you'll enjoy a few answers to what has been going on lately. Warning for strong and dark imagery!

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Calling Umbra

Chapter 12 – It's not a loop, but you might go crazy

The world was a dark place now. The cold seeped everywhere, stretching her shattered mind with every gust of wind and new whisper. The shadows whispered against her neck, their web of terror tightly wrapped around her. Luna's wrists and ankles were caught. Her fingertips were turning blue and the shivers seemed the only proof of her still being alive.

 _I'm alive, I'm alive, please gods, let me survive this or make it stop right now while I still remember the feel of his arms…_

"Lu-na-freyaaaa," a man's voice called out playfully.

She knew that voice and her first reflex was to make herself smaller, but she couldn't get her legs to bend or fold her arms in front of her. All she could was shake like a leaf and hope she didn't look too pathetic as Ardyn took a few more steps into this hellish place. He snapped his fingers, which apparently commanded a ray of light on the scene.

"What are you…?"

The chancellor tipped his hat to her, his smirk almost too wide.

"I was surprised too when I heard. Your cute dogs have very special powers, don't they? Living such a long life, walking on water, jumping through time… I did my best to get here fast enough to offer my congratulations to your fiancé for even making it here, but it seemed I was too late. That boy Noctis really set a bad example."

A vivid flash to that future she hadn't lived yet showed her Noctis crashing into the ground, his spine twisting, his bones cracking and her heart couldn't handle it. All the pain her prince had been though was that man's fault!

"Don't you dare say his name!" she commanded, her revolt bringing an even larger smile on Ardyn's face.

"Very well, princess. I should focus on you anyway, seeing as you haven't started your own process of decaying like the rest of my subjects."

Luna squirmed against the webtar trapping her in place, her eyes widening as her imagination spun his words around in her head.

"You don't mean…?!"

"This little pocked of time is one of my many domains. Or should I call them, my gardens. I cultivate the fallen and afflicted that neither that oracle nor the chosen king could save. And my growing collection is progressing splendidly to the final stage."

As he spoke, Ardyn played around with the rim of his hat, making it turn along his arm, up and down and one hope to catch it with his other arm, yellow pairs of eyes glinting from the darkness over his shoulders.

"What stage?"

She didn't really want the answer, but as long as he talked, she could try to figure a way out of this mess.

"Haven't you figured it out yet, my lady? Your brother would be so disappointed with you. Then again, he's well on his way to join my most prized shelf."

Luna couldn't keep herself together at the notion, a pure shriek escaping her throat. Despite all the restraint she'd acquired through her life, the idea Ravus could… What had that awful man done to her brother?!

"Don't be that way, Lunafreya, all that blood rushing to your face makes you look far too lively. And if it wasn't for this stitch in time, you'd be colder than a nail already."

Ardyn snapped his fingers one more time, the tar shifting at his bidding, unraveling from her waist to better tug on her wrists, lifting her from the ground with her arms stretched out behind her. Her shoulders burned and she struggled to breathe, the half liquid, half solid shackles lowering her just enough for her toes to brush against the brick road.

"No comeback for me? Already resigned to your fate?"

"What good will it bring me to talk to you?"

"Well, I could offer you some knowledge. Of course, I want to gloat about your failures, but aren't you just _dying_ to understand how this little time-stitch is even possible?"

"Why don't you just monologue about it since you're so eager to gloat?!" she snapped, voice strained by the lack of air.

He chuckled wryly at her loss of composure.

"Aw, look at you, taking away all my fun. But I shall entertain your mind anyway. I haven't had the chance to be true to myself in quite a while. Oho Nyyyx! Come here, puppy, puppy!"

A pair of yellow eyes moved forward and the tarbery that looked just like Nyx Ulrich stepped into the beam of light that Ardyn was somehow keeping above their heads. Nyx's eyes were crying those black inky tears and the thick fluid also came out from his nose, ears and both corners of his mouth.

"This former Glaive and wannabe hero died as he promised to the Kings of Old. Good guys, those geezers, I tell you. Nyx had a taste of the suffering our favorite boy prince will experience in a few years when he finally answers his calling. And now, I have his body, or at least, a good part of his body stationed in this garden of water. And like all of my pets, he's rotting from the inside as I cultivate the blight in him."

He plunged two fingers in Nyx's bicep, as though his flesh was made of wax, pulling out more tar and what looked to be dry muscles. For all she had seen in her life, Luna still fought against the urge to retch.

"What… _what_ are you?"

"I am Ardyn Lucis Caelum of the nation formerly known as Solheim. First man ever blessed and spurned by the crystal," he explained, offering her an exaggerated bow as he waved the dark flesh he'd extracted from Nyx's arm around.

"By the gods…" Luna whispered.

"Indeed! I hope those tears showing in your eyes are for me, princess. Soon you'll be crying tar-blight like mister hero here. Is there anyone you'd like to meet? I keep good old Reggie in a Nifelheim stitch, but I could definitely make an exception to my sorting rules for you!"

"I don't want to see anyone!" she managed through her knotted throat.

Just the hollow look in Nyx's eyes was enough to break her heart.

"Oh, don't think about how they're suffering. I mean, the fact they can talk and recognize people doesn't mean they're still alive in there. Or does it? I've always considered my daemons alive…"

More tears rolled down her face as Ardyn halted his musing to hit Nyx on the back, half of the chancellor's face turning a sick, purplish dark.

"Let's look at the process together real quick, shall we? Nyx had been so impatient to finally bloom into the monster he was always supposed to be."

"No!"

"Ardyn says yes, princess."

He punctuated his words by stabbing Nyx in the back with his bare hand, the tarbery chocking and coughing up chunks of black goo as the white of his eyes was swallowed by darkness. Horns pierced his forehead, fangs coming out of his mouth, his ribcage stretching out, pushing and tearing open his skin, the flesh drying right off his bones. His eyes rolling over, coming to a boil as everything that made him Nyx, that still made him somehow human… all of it melted away in a matter of seconds.

Luna was shaking so hard, the web cuffing her cracked, only to be replaced by more tar. She tasted blood in her mouth as she realized she'd been biting her tongue to keep herself from screaming.

"I hope you caught all that. It feels so much better to know what's ahead of us, isn't it? Where's that cute dog of yours?"

 _Oh no. Please no._

Luckily enough, Pryna was out of sight, but that didn't mean the skeletal imp Nyx had been turned into was gone. The pictures were burned beneath her eyelids, the horror, the pain on his traits as they…

"Would you rather be dead before the shift takes? Remain that frightened flower?"

Ardyn raised the dagger she'd seen in her nightmare, pain blooming in her side at the very sight. Her head started to shake and nod at the same time.

"Wow. Is that hope still in your heart? How many times does a man have to kill an Oracle to get his message across?"

 _No, no, I can't…_

She wanted to call Noctis for help, she wanted to see her brother, to hide against Pryna's fur and while all her helplessness shamed her, she couldn't help the thought she'd sacrificed enough already.

"Noctis will defeat you," she tried to say, hating the shivers in her voice.

"That's the thing now, dearest," Ardyn whispered, dangerously leaning up to her, his breath actually reaching the bare skin of her shoulders. "I want him to."

His arm struck like lightning, a glint on metal her only warning, and her insides were torn open. Again. Finally. Again.

The tears froze on her cheeks, her eyes stilling as Ardyn let out a low chuckle.

"Familiar yet?"

The pain couldn't fully register, her voice was a whimper as the healer part of her mind assessed the damage.

 _You have a few minutes left,_ Luna, she told herself. _A few minutes left, and you can't save Noctis this time._

At least, her prince was already safe of body, if not of mind.

"What will it be this time?" Ardyn asked as though he'd been reading her mind.

The fear clutching her heart vanished at the notion her life was already over, and her blue eyes held his mocking stare. It was like watching herself from outside her body as the world shifted on its axis.

"How about shedding more light on your current situation?" she asked, her voice strained but colder than Tenebrae's highest mountains.

He'd only started a frown, Luna calling up her magic, her trident materializing between her hands, the spikes taking form across his chest. And through it.

His blood was black. And so was the night closing over her.

To be continued…

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Before that you burn me at the stake for making yet another cliffhanger, know that next chapter will follow both Noctis and Luna. Now let me know what you think, you know how much it motivates me!


	13. Don't blink too fast

I wanted to bring this new chapter faster, but I finally sat down with my thesis to have it progress, and I was swarmed with work.

Today's chapter is pretty rough, with harsh and dark imagery. The horror vibe of this story is very real. I hope you enjoy.

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Calling Umbra

Chapter 13 – Don't blink too fast

"You can't go back," Ignis objected.

Whatever that time was, it was insane.

"I'm not leaving her back there. Gladio, you coming?"

"I…"

They had barely made it out of there with the four of them, going back with only two fighters was ludicrous. Especially with the state of mind the prin… the King was in. His Shield scratched the back of his head, stopping almost as soon as he'd started as he realized the bloated skin from the boiling rain was still very real. His scalp was burning and itching awfully.

"Fine then, I can go on my own!"

It sounded childish even to Noctis, but his mind was made up and he wouldn't go back on his word to Luna. He had promised to save her this time. He couldn't let her out there alone, no matter what was keeping her away from the present. If living a life with her meant running from tar-berries half the time, he'd do it.

"You're not thinking clearly, Noct," Ignis tried to appeal to reason, but it was no use.

Prompto straightened himself up from his crouch, taking a step closer to Noctis, who stepped back as though he was afraid his friend would hold him down. Umbra let out a scared whine, easily sensing the tension of the group.

"I'll go with you," Gladiolus declared, sensing there was no use trying to beat some sense into him. "But this is the last try, alright? Prom, you look after Iggy."

Both men wanted to protest, but Noctis whistled for Umbra to take them back, grabbing Gladio's wrist, and just like that, they were gone.

Prompto blinked.

Noctis was back, as though pulled out of thin air, the smell of blood on him having both the gunman and the advisor gasp.

"How… Why…?" Prompto was struggling for words and Ignis couldn't help but notice the absence of a fourth breathing.

"Where's Gladio?!" he managed to ask.

"I…" Noctis glanced around him with wild eyes, his shoulders shaking as he was still looking for his breath. "They overwhelmed us, he pushed me to the side and Umbra panicked… We need to get him back! Prompto, would you…?"

The blond nodded slowly, dropping the hand he'd put on Ignis's shoulder. The advisor could feel their eyes on him, he could sense the panic in Noctis's every move. The way his boots cracked. His hacked breathing.

 _This needs to stop,_ Ignis thought.

Prompto shuffled forward.

"We'll only be gone for a second, you saw how quick it was."

 _Let me come too,_ the advisor begged in his mind.

"Noct…"

"Third time's the charm, isn't it what they say?"

Ignis couldn't speak. Something had broken in his mind and he was just barely keeping himself standing. Gladio hadn't come back, how could they trust the three of them would be back this time?

 _Don't leave me here._

Umbra yapped and his friends were gone. Just like that. Gone. Out of time.

 _They'll be back, they'll be back, you can just close your eyes and…_

It was only one eye, but did it matter when his world was tipping on itself? Lunafreya was dead a second time. Noctis was going crazy. Gladio was battling zombies. Prompto had just jumped back in time with Noct and…

Ignis forced himself to blink even if he could barely tell he'd done so. Someone bumped into him and he held back his breath, unable to muster an apology for standing there. His cane was still at his feet, wasn't it?

 _I didn't need that bloody cane back there. Back then. Fuck this time-travelling shit, why aren't they coming back?!_

Another blink. Another shiver running down his spine. Why the lapse now? How helpless could he get? Another bump -in his side this time-, and he stumbled.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there, mister," the man responsible apologized.

His blood froze.

"Are you the only one left behind? Poor, poor butler-boy. Finally ran out of loyalty, did you?"

Ardyn Izunia was here. And while he was glad Noctis wasn't here to do something foolish, to risk his life in an attempt at revenge, he couldn't help the insidious burn in his own heart. Ignis pushed on his hands, sensing a shift in the air, but not fast enough to evade the kick coming for him. The plaza was dead silent and Ardyn chuckled as he struggled for air and a crouched position.

"I could be a much better master than that little prince, don't you think?"

"A scumbag like you?" Ignis shot back.

"Oh, do you still have bite in you? Everyone is so rowdy today."

Another kick, much stronger this time, Ignis sent rolling on himself on a few feet. He tried to determinate how far from the tracks he was, angry at himself for being so helpless as he pushed against his elbows to get to his feet.

Maybe staying down was a better idea with his handicap, but the sheer idea could drive him insane.

…

Noctis and Prompto fell to the ground as they barged out of the head-spinning time-travel, their ears instantly flooded by groans and raspy breaths. They both hissed as their knees and hands hit a boiling puddle, the rain not falling anymore, but leaving the air strangely warm and heat sticking to the cobblestones and the puddles scattered across the city. They hurried to their feet, Noctis raised his armiger as a shield around the gunman and himself, blocking dark stretches of solid tar. The tar-berries were grayer than before, arms stretched out, already attacking the new targets they'd spotted. The tar was coming from their eyes, their noses, their mouths and ears, and their nails had split, black tar surging forth instead of blood.

"Holy shit!" Prompto almost shrieked.

Umbra's fur was ruffled up as he growled at the monsters, baring his teeth.

"This time, no wondering off on your part, uh, boy?" Noctis asked nervously.

A single bark answered him, and while Noctis had to fight against his urge to look for either Luna or Pryna, who had to be here, he knew the priority had to be Gladio. The man had been surrounded by tar-berries after shoving him out of the way, his sword breaking down bony bodies one after the other.

"They're going to swarm us!" Prompto whispered. "I don't even have any ammunition for my guns…"

"Then use that saw we nabbed from the Niffs. I'll cover you with my armiger, we just need to dig our way through."

Prompto had been hoping the tar-berries wouldn't jump right at them upon arriving in this version of past Altissia again. On their test travels right after Noctis had decided to go back, they had been welcomed by the same quiet city and outside of meeting Luna, he had no idea what could have triggered those monstrous things. He had to fight back his trembling as he summoned the weapon, a mechanized saw that could do elemental damage when infused with the proper flasks. Noctis threw him two different flasks, Prompto making quick work of loading the magical ammo.

"I always forget we have that thing… So heavy," he tried to sound playful as he complained, but Noctis was barely paying him attention.

His blue eyes were focused on their surroundings, taking everything in as quickly as possible, his eyelids barely blinking.

Where was Gladio?

…

The tall man was half a mile away, stuck with his back against the wall, swinging left and right despite the burns covering the top half of his body. In the corner of his eye, he spotted a tar-berry that seemed oddly familiar, with short brown hair and dark clothes layered with red patterns. She hopped on her feet and his arms froze, his heart coming to a stutter. The black web of tar hit him square in the chest, a thread digging in his shoulder, drawing blood and a desperate cry from him.

Then the warm air shifted to a sizzle of sparks, stars appearing out of nowhere as a giant man wrapped in a magician's garb manifested in the sky. Gladio broke the web stuck in his chest, batting at the sticking matter as best as he could, rushing to the smaller tar-berry in the hopes he could get her away from the coming storm. It was great that Noctis was back to get him, the last thing he wanted was to remain stuck here, but he'd rather not get fried. And if that thing with brown hair was really…

 _Iris is alive,_ he told himself. _Iris is alive, she can't be…_

But he'd left her behind, so how was he supposed to know what happened to her? His phone had been destroyed during Leviathan's covenant.

Thunder rolled above his head. He met Iris's eyes head-on and pushed his legs forward despite the shock short-fusing his heart. Her tears were black on her cheeks, her nails broken from the inside out to let the webbing solid tar expand and he didn't raise his arm in self-defense, thinking of her back in Insomnia, of her after Jared's murder, his baby sister, alone and broken in a city of undead.

He collected her with one arm, his sword brushing away the nearest tar-berries, Iris groaning and mumbling something incoherent about "intruders in the light"?

Gladiolus pulled her off the ground, breaking the black tar at her feet with sheer strength, dragging her out of the blast radius of Ramuh's thunder, his hairs standing up on his arms and neck as electricity saturated the air.

He stepped in boiling water and winced, tar-Iris clawing at him.

"It will be okay," he tried to calm her.

"Gladio, what are you doing?" Noctis called out.

"Let go of that thing, it's going to rip you apart!" Prompto added, his voice beyond jumpy.

"She's not a thing!" he opposed violently, not looking over his shoulder, unsure of where his friends could be.

It was true the solid web rushing out of tar-Iris's orifices was biting into him, a hand-shaped thread covering his mouth, the touch so cold it threatened to burn him.

"Glad…!"

The world turned dark and tar-Iris was gone from his hold and so was the hard web covering him, so was his sword. Like he cared for a sword right now.

"Iris!"

A laugh answered his panicked voice, small hands reaching for his legs, as though children were laying on either side of him. Gladiolus reached down in the hope it would be either Iris or Talcott, but sharp teeth bit him instead, laughs echoing all over his head.

"So… you boys have found a way in here. How did you like my little doll, King's Shield?" a sultry voice asked.

Gladiolus blinked, but he couldn't see in the dark. The small hands pulled on his clothes, gripped his calves and fearing Iris could be among the multitude had him stay frozen, even though claws scratched him raw.

"Izunia?" he managed to keep his voice somewhat steady.

"You can ask me for anyone you'd like to see, and you say my name? I'm glad I left such an impression on you. Any questions?"

"What the fuck is going on?!" the Shield bellowed, his arms angrily swatting at the air. "If you bastard did anything to her…!"

"Oh, language!"

…

Noctis only heard two words as a warning before the world shifted to pure darkness around him. One instant, he'd been standing on a bridge, his eyes still red from summoning Ramuh and his body aching from warping around so much after shielding Prompto with his armiger for ten full minutes of burning through tar-berries rank.

"You _cheated_ ," Ardyn called him out in a sing-song tone.

The next instant, Noctis was trapped between brick walls that made up a cell. A torch hanging on the wall to his left burned and as he tried to call out his weapons, he realized none of them were answering. His magic was gone.

Chains hanged on a wall and there was a strange bed-like table in the middle of the room, the thin mattress stained with blood. Noctis spotted shreds of white fabric and blinked twice, a little too quickly. Why would he be taken here if that fabric didn't mean…?

 _No, no… I'm saving her this time, I…_

He looked to his left and his right, his eyes falling on torture instruments, from the smaller pair of pliers to circular saws and… Were those human nails clipped to a board? The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth, his mind jumping from one idea to the next.

"Ardyn?" he asked.

"It was very cute to think you could get her back. But I'm hurt. Did you already forget I was the only one to offer you a wedding gift?"

Noctis howled in pure rage, his eyes burning, his heart stuttering as anger mixed with pain. He wasn't going through that again. He couldn't stand that mocking tone, but as he tried to warp forward, nothing happened.

A scream shattered the silence, Luna's voice so close, his blood froze in his veins. The room was empty except for him and the gruesome furniture, but he could hear more gasps, hacked sobs and all the suffering she hadn't expressed the first time she'd died.

 _Don't think that,_ he mentally begged himself.

"She was so scared as I cut through her failing flesh," the chancellor explained.

Noctis shook his head, gripping his own hair as pictures ran beneath his eyelids.

Luna's eyes crying as an invisible hand ran a knife along her leg. A flower of blood on her stomach. Fingers bleeding from torn-out nails. The tears on the left side of her face were darker. Tar dripped from her ear.

He blinked, noticing a broken mirror on the ceiling as Ardyn insisted, snapping his fingers.

"She called your name as the pain spread. As my blight took her whole."

Another blink and he saw Luna catching her reflection, the stab wound bleeding black blood, her mouth spitting out dark webs of tar that quickly wrapped around her, burning her unmarred skin and clothes.

Her scream rang through his very soul, his breathing hacked, eyes remaining open as long as possible to escape the visions that came with every blink. But his tears were welling up, his legs felt weak.

"She would have made a beautiful bride, don't you think?"

Noctis couldn't find his voice, holding on to the frail memory of her smile. Her warmth.

The next blink showed him threads of red, electric wires sown into her skin. Across her hands, over her eyelids. Twisting her hair, drawing blood from her scalp. And the red was black and black was blood and blood was tar.

"You're lying," the young King whispered.

"I only made your advisor blind, didn't I?"

The tar reached Noctis's heart, grief swelling over, his lungs spasming. Luna's screams were reverberating over one another. Stretching into an endless sound.

" _I don't want to die, Noct, please, please, don't let me die. Not like this. Not again."_

He dropped to his knees, holding his head, desperately calling for his armiger, his elemancy, his engine blade, anything that might stop this.

But nothing answered his prayers.

…

Prompto didn't know why, but the streets had changed. He was ready to swear he was in Insomnia. Except it was on fire. Dropships flying in the sky and there was a gun in his hands. A freaking machine gun.

 _What the hell?_

"Noct?"

He turned around and saw frightened civilians running away from him. Felt his arms raising and shook his head, except that his head didn't move.

He couldn't blink. Couldn't shift around or drop the weapon as his metal-gloved fingers pulled the trigger and rained fire on innocent Lucians.

"Isn't it better this way? Finally on the side where you belong," Ardyn observed.

There was a smile in his voice and Prompto was left trapped in his own body, watching the carnage left by the weapons in his hands.

 _I'm not a murderer._

"Prompto, Prompto, isn't it time to face reality?"

The gunman gasped, his feet moving on their own, taking him through streets he's strolled upon, jogged by, greeting people and now… Now he greeted them with bullets.

A dark part of his mind was counting the death toll. It was an approximate, but his heart bled a little more with every added corpse.

"Stop right there!" Gladio warned him, his giant blade swung at his face, Prompto pulling away with lightning-quick reflex.

His limbs ached and there was a strange burn on his wrist. A glimpse at himself and he noticed blood on his barcode. Exposed barcode.

 _Why isn't it covered up?!_

"Gladio, I need your help, I'm stuck in…!"

"Shut up, damn Niff!" Noctis barged in, his armiger deployed, eyes red from both his magic and anger.

 _It's me, man, it's me, please…_

But Noctis was charging and his gun was raising and if it was a question of who was faster, Prompto hoped with all his heart his friend would be faster. He'd rather die than hurt him!

…

 _He'd only started a frown, Luna calling up her magic, her trident materializing between her hands, the spikes taking form across his chest. And through it._

 _His blood was black. And so was the night closing over her._

Until her eyes filled with gold.

"The hell?" Ardyn sputtered.

"I believe my time isn't done yet," Luna told him, struggling against the pain in her side.

She twisted her trident around, light blooming from the spikes. The light reached his veins. Ran from his chest to his arms and up his neck. A shiver ran through him.

"Time is a continuum, isn't it?" Luna asked. "If you can be at multiple places at once, why can't I do the same?"

"Because…"

His voice faltered, the light digging into his darkness, purging the blight so far, he almost remembered who he used to before… In his first life.

Luna blinked. And the cage Altissia had become for three men cracked open.

To be continued…

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Yes, yes, I'm having a lot of fun with this story. And things are getting closer to an end. Next chapter will see the bros's reunion and massive hurt/comfort. The four of them are so freaking traumatized by now.

Can you tell what was real and what wasn't? I'll try to update faster, but not going to make any promise. Please, know that the reviews make my day, and I can't wait to give you more to read. 😊


	14. We're so done

Pure angst and hurt/comfort all over this chapter. It's a bit confused in places, but that's because the bros are pretty confused. Bear with me, for this chapter is short. And I nearly cried writing parts of it. I hope you still enjoy the chocobros trying to keep each other together through it all.

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Calling Umbra

Chapter 14 – We're so done

There was a bark somewhere in the background and Noctis only recognized the fact there was light beyond the hands covering his eyes. He was still shaking as the bricks beneath his knees shifted, still trembling as the visions of Luna suffering remained, echoing across his mind, thankfully no new wounds or torture appearing. He heard Prompto gasping and Gladio grunting. Felt Umbra's muzzle against his thigh, the dog whining softly.

 _We're back,_ he thought.

"The hell!" Gladio managed, his voice sounding different then his usual.

Something had happened to him down there, Noctis was sure of it. A few feet from him, Prompto dropped to his knees. The young King looked up through his tears, seeing the train station and very few people minding their business. The two brothers he'd risked were there, going through different stages of shock from what they'd seen, and yet someone was missing.

 _Luna. Gods, Luna, what have I done to you?_

But he would come to terms with her absence later, when the awful, awful vision would be gone, when he'd know at least, the people he hadn't lost in Altissia were still here.

"Iggy?" he tried calling out.

His voice croaked out of his throat pitifully.

The cane was lying on the ground, letting him believe that something might have happened and while Gladio whipped around in alarm, Prompto just pushed his head against the ground. He was holding himself, sobbing.

 _I hurt them all._

The realization made everything ache twice as bad.

"Iggy!" Gladiolus called, heaving a gasp as he finally spotted the man.

Noctis followed his movement, his eyes widening at the sight.

Ignis's suit was covered with dirt and mud from being kicked around, his glasses broken, the star shaped scar so raw, it was hard to tell if it wasn't actually bleeding. He had been laying on the ground until Ardyn's voice actually left his head for good, his hands still raised in front of him in self-defense, his entire body shuddering.

Noctis couldn't breathe. The last time, his absence had been nothing more than a second, Prompto had sworn to him, he'd barely had any time to blink and he was back…

 _How long were we gone? Who the hell did…?_

"You're back," Ignis managed, raising himself up despite the weakness in his arms.

"What happened?" was all Noctis could say, Ignis crawling his way to them with his head hanging so low, it felt like torture all over again. He wanted to warp forward and halt him, but he was also scared, because Ignis's blind eye was looking for him with pure despair and he didn't trust his trembling arms enough to throw a weapon forward.

"You were gone, Noct," the advisor stated. "You were gone for so long and left me with no way to find you if anything happened."

"I…"

Ignis almost tripped on his hands and caught himself, tears burning down his eyes. Somehow, Noctis knew, they weren't even due to shame. He swallowed, blinking away more of his own tears, shuffling forward to at least save his friend some of the distance. When the prince touched his shoulders, the advisor seemed ready to fold back on himself, his body was still on high alert from the attack he'd been through. From close up, Noctis could tell he'd been burned again. The scar on his face looked fresh and rawer than when he'd woken up in Altissia to hear the news about Luna.

"Ig…"

Ignis cut him off with the strongest hug he could manage, forgetting to confirm whether the prince was wounded or not first, forgetting that such a thing was unsightly, unable to even remember there were strangers potentially staring at the scene. His world was a void with the picture of Noctis dying, over and over and he needed to know that reality was not yet…

"You left me behind," he whispered, all composure gone, his hands gripping to Noctis's coat, face hiding against his shoulder. "Twice and I can't… Don't leave me another time, Noct, I beg you! I know I'm a burden, I know I can't…"

Noctis couldn't breathe, his throat tied up with a knot the size of his heart. All he could do was hold Ignis back, hard enough to hurt.

"I'm sorry, Iggy, I…"

"I'm sorry for Luna, Noct, I know…"

"Iggy, please, I'm not leaving again, I'm sorry, I didn't want you getting hurt."

"I'm…"

He wanted to say _fine_ , but the word burned in his throat and instead he hid himself a little more, every wall cracking down as the sobs took over.

Noctis was such a mess already, he didn't need that, he needed one of them to be strong and from what Ignis could hear, Prompto was in bad shape and Gladio might not… Could the advisor really pretend his ears were even working by now? Noctis was telling him he wouldn't leave again, but a part of his brain was convinced that if he let go of the prince for even a second, it would be back to that painful void of reality.

"Just don't leave again. I know I can't look after you, but I will, I'll…"

"Stop, Ignis, please. I'm not… I'm not going back, I'm not losing anyone else."

They both jumped as they felt a shy hand on their shoulders, Prompto taking the few steps keeping him apart from them, remaining standing since he knew dropping to his knees would mean never getting back up again.

"I can't lose you guys either," the gunman whispered.

"Prom…"

Noctis barely managed that word, shell-shock by the state Ignis's was in. His older brother, advisor, life-guide and mentor was… broken and adrift, lost in pain and it was his fault. He'd put on the ring in his name. He'd given up his sight for his sake. And most of all, right after forcing him back to cecity, Noctis had turned his back on him to run after a hopeless dream.

He wanted to cry with him, but nothing came out, not a sound, not a whimper, not even a tremble of his hand.

"Guys," Gladiolus tried to call some reason into them.

Prompto looked around, seeing the looks on the passersby's faces. The last thing Ignis needed was to be under the spotlight, but the outside world had stopped existing for him since Noctis was back. The sad part was, maybe the outside world had stopped existing for him since Noctis had left…

Their Iggy was out of reach, needing warmth after the horror, needing reassurance after the pain. The four men could sense every burden and trauma from their journey prickling at their skin, like they'd broken through the surface, wearing down every defense.

People were staring and murmuring, but no one dared to interfere. If Gladiolus had asked about what had happened to Ignis, they would admit the man had been seemingly pushed around by some invisible force. He wanted to break down too, he had pulled his phone out of his pocket without even realizing it. Iris was a call away, and her answer would be enough to calm him down, unless the terror of ending up on her voicemail did him in.

"Guys…" He tried again.

His voice sounded so weak and the sight of the three of his friends hurting as they held on each other… He almost wished his arms were large enough to hide each and every one of them from the rest of the world.

Gladiolus pushed his phone back into his pocket, grasping for the best way to actually hide his friends. They needed somewhere safe to break down. And once that was done, maybe they could try to piece something back together. He was afraid to touch any of them, afraid the tears might shift to the black tar he'd seen on Iris's face. Afraid their shaking would win him over if he didn't steel himself hard enough.

"Hey. How about taking this somewhere else?"

He didn't dare to touch Ignis, seeing as he was hiding himself a little more in Noctis's arms and that very behavior was enough to shake up the King's Shield. His hand fell on the King's back, Gladio wincing as Noct jumped, Prompto almost taking a step back.

They were worse than frightened kids.

"I…" Noctis tried to align his thoughts. "What do we do, Gladio?"

"I just told you," the Shield sighed. "Prompto, help him get to his feet. I'll carry Iggy…"

"I'm staying with Noct!" came Ignis's protest and the warm tears rolling down his bare face were worse than a punch in the gut.

"It's okay, Iggy, I…" Noctis bit his tongue instead of giving him a promise he didn't know he could keep. He had been powerless to save Luna, how could he pretend there was anything he could get accomplished after that? Travelling back through time was Umbra's doing and he'd played right into Ardyn's hands… A second time.

"We need to get you somewhere safe," Gladiolus offered.

"There's nowhere really…"

Prompto shivered, knowing full well what their friend meant.

"Come on, Iggy. We can't have people seeing Noctis in the state he's in."

It was a clumsy attempt, but it reached the advisor, his throat seizing upon a broken gasp, his hands falling at his sides as he struggled to recall there was a world existing outside of just the prince he was looking after. And people could see Noctis and his friends, unlike Ignis. There was no looking after that could be done, literally, and the pain was swarming back up, breaking through every crack in his armor. His legs held him and he could tell Noctis's arm was around his shoulder, while Gladio offered him support, Prompto rushing around to grab his cane, his boots always making a different sound against stones than the other's shoes.

"There's a step here," Gladiolus warned him as they stepped into the train.

Ignis wished he had enough working brain cells to pray he wouldn't stumble, but instead he stumbled and felt the strength of his friends keeping him on his feet, letting himself be carried like a doll the rest of the way. They rented a room and guided him to their cart, having him sitting on a bed so they could check his wounds, Noctis barely recalling that he sported burns and that both of his friends did.

"What happened to you three?" Ignis managed despite how raw his throat felt.

"The boiling rain was still falling," Prompto offered him an explanation.

"Nothing a few potions can't fix," Noctis whispered, looking through his pockets, still trying to gather his senses. As he found an energy drink and pulled it out, he made one false move, the bottle falling and breaking on the floor, making the four of them jump in their seats, Ignis literally shifting backward, curling on himself.

The tears frozen in the prince's blue eyes poured out, as though this was just another sign of his weakness. His inability to protect or save anyone. His throat tightened and he pushed against the rough knot growing inside, his eyes blinking desperately as they burned.

"I'm sorry, guys. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean…"

"Dude, there's no…"

But Noctis could see the way Gladiolus was shaking with his phone laying in his hands, his big fingers struggling to hit keys. The way Prompto tried to make Ignis more comfortable, ignoring his own scratches and cuts which needed treatment.

"I'm sorry, you're worth more than that, I risked you all like some… selfish brat and I can't…"

"Noct…" Ignis tried shaking his head, but his voice broke over the name.

"It's so unfair, Ig… I can't fix you… My stupid magic does nothing to help the people around me."

"I never asked to be fixed," the advisor managed with a steady voice, his resolve faltering as Noctis wrapped his arms around him.

"You should ask for more things, Iggy…"

Who said that was unclear as Prompto and Gladio moved in to join on the hug, the four men equally needing comfort. Noctis had questions to ask, Prompto did too, but neither dared say them. They simply held on, hiding each other, Gladiolus's arms managing to contain them all somehow even as feelings spilled over. Ignis and Noctis were like the little boys they once were, holding on to each other to fend off the nightmare their lives had become. Sleep came, taking over some of the pain, threatening to induce more nightmare, but somehow, being together kept the darkness at bay.

Had the princess left a little speck of light in their hearts?

…

Gladiolus was the first to wake up and sensed that something was different from usual. His bed felt small, but that wasn't new. What was new was the sleepy feeling in his right arm and realizing that both Noctis and Ignis were cuddling next to him, Noctis with his back leaning into his chest.

 _The fuck?_ The Shield thought, not immediately remembering the most recent events.

This was the first time he was getting sleep in the past 36 hours and he needed much more rest. Except that his legs couldn't move either. Shifting over ever so slightly, he realized that Prompto was nested with his head on his hip, holding onto his right leg like a teddy bear.

"Are you guys for real?" he couldn't help his barking laugh from coming out.

"What is it? What is it?!" Prompto panicked as he tried batting the sleep out of his eyes.

Ignis did blink, very slowly, his good eye eying Gladio with something akin to murderous intent. There was something uncanny about the way he'd managed to find him and look in the perfect angle despite his cecity.

"Sorry specs, I was just shocked by all the snuggling. When next will the king be able to boast about being sandwiched by the best-looking men in Lucis?"

"God, Gladio, are you trying to start some sort of tabloid?" Noctis grunted, struggling out of sleep.

"I don't think I've snapped any picture of it. Stop getting up!" Prompto teased them, happy to fall back in their usual ways.

"Don't be rude now, we don't need puffy red eyes immortalized for posterity," Ignis declared, the hint of a warning in his voice as he untangled himself from Noctis to sit up.

The prince imitated him, actually helping the advisor in remaining steady.

"Prom, consider yourself warned, he has a very mean right hook," Noctis added.

Gladiolus scrambled out of bed at that, laughing as he defended his speedy retreat, "can't stay in the crossfire, my jaw has a tendency of breaking Ignis's fingers."

"Like you're made of rock. Get off your crazy cloud, Gladio," Prompto teased the giant back.

Neither of them could think what it was that brought the Shield back to Eos, but his whole attitude shifted, his shoulders lowering as he recalled the fright from the previous day. And how crazy his crazy cloud had gotten.

"Will you guys be okay if I leave a minute?"

"Oh no, you don't…!" Noctis protested, fearing this was a repeat of his disappearing right after the confrontation with Ravus.

"I need to make a phone call, it's going to be a matter of minutes, I swear."

Gladio had never sounded like he was ready to beg before. But the pain in his eyes was painfully real and Noctis found himself nodding. In fact, they all nodded in unison, Prompto voicing everyone's question as soon as the tall man had walked out of their cabin.

"What the hell happened to him out there?"

…

"Gladdy, I swear, I'm doing fine," Iris told him.

"It's so good to hear your voice," he sighed.

"You're scaring me!"

"I'm sorry, sis. I… We all went through hell. Some monster messed with our heads and…"

"And…?" Iris wondered if he wanted her to encourage him or not.

"It turned into a zombie apocalypse and I got to see… too many people I knew. You included."

Her gasp made him wince, because he didn't want her to hurt, but then again, putting into words and hearing her say she was the liveliest she'd ever been and so not a zombie… He chuckled into the phone.

"Stay that way, sis. I can't wait to see you."

They exchanged a few more banalities, Gladiolus stepping all around the fact he'd seen both of their parents. And killed them. He wasn't going to make her cry when she was too far for him to reach her. It was already bad that he told her this much.

"Noctis and the others are alright, though? You're going to get all back in one piece, aren't you?"

There was a knot in his throat he could barely swallow.

"Don't tell me how to do my job, sis!"

Walking back into the room, he found the guys working on fixing Prompto's wounds, that had remained untreated last night.

"Why did you let yourself remain forgotten?" Noctis asked, and it was clear it wasn't the first time he'd done so.

"I…" Prompto's voice shivered in and out. "I always fear I'm not worth those…"

"Prompto, please!"

"Listen to me, Noct," Prompto cut him off with a raised voice.

He knew he sounded whiny, but this was too important for him. Waking up and seeing how he was just clinging to the others, unable to find his place once more…

They gave him silence and their full ears, Prompto taking in a short breath before throwing himself in the water.

"I was originally born in the empire and adopted by a Lucian family for some… reasons I don't really know. So the guys who caused Altissia. The people who took away Luna and made our lives so hard… I could have been one of them."

At first, all he got was silence.

Was it one bomb too many dropping on their heads?

To be continued…

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Next chapter will be about… Luna! So we'll get answers as to what's going on with her! Stay tuned!


	15. A sparkle in the dark

Luna-centric chapter, and thus… Ardyn-centric chapter. Who am I kidding, this is the let's torture Luna, Ravus is barging in the story and we're almost done with his roller-coaster of feelings chapter. Enjoy!

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Calling Umbra

Chapter 15 – A sparkle in the dark

 _He'd only started a frown, Luna calling up her magic, her trident materializing between her hands, the spikes taking form across his chest. And through it._

 _His blood was black. And so was the night closing over her._

 _Until her eyes filled with gold._

" _The hell?" Ardyn sputtered._

" _I believe my time isn't done yet," Luna told him, struggling against the pain in her side._

 _She twisted her trident around, light blooming from the spikes. The light reached his veins. Ran from his chest to his arms and up his neck. A shiver ran through him._

" _Time is a continuum, isn't it?" Luna asked. "If you can be at multiple places at once, why can't I do the same?"_

" _Because…"_

 _His voice faltered, the light digging into his darkness, purging the blight so far, he almost remembered who he used to before… In his first life._

 _Luna blinked. And the cage Altissia had become for three men cracked open._

She vanished with the invisible bars, ending up in a space with no ups or down.

The pain bloomed inside her flesh. A flower of blood on her dress which was stained with black tar and salt water. Light tendrils tugged at her wrists and ankles. Luna fought against a pressure on her lungs, keeping her from drawing in air, wondering why everything felt so light. Was she slipping out of her body? Was this what it felt like to die?

 _No, no, not yet, I promised Noctis…_

Had she made that promise? It was wrong if she did, she knew there was no way.

 _Time is malleable. Ardyn proved thus so. Umbra can jump around it. Even if this is a timeline…_

She was thinking of her life differently, thinking of her faith in Eos' gods differently.

Has Bahamut allowed this?

 _ **Lady Oracle**_ , a familiar voice called out to her.

"Gentiana?" Luna barely managed through the pain.

Her fingertips froze, nails turning blue and the princess mentally corrected herself. Gentiana had always been none other than Shiva and pretending otherwise was wrong of her.

"The Forsaken One rewrote your story and as I read the stars, I realized the ink of your blood had fallen back into your hands."

Luna forced herself to blink. Finding that it was easier to breathe in the cold air. Her left hand pressed against the wound on her side and found ice-cold flesh under her palm.

"Are you… Can I heal from this?"

"With a few sacrifices, I believe the Oracle can reclaim her time by the side of her King. Although the Cursed One will demand answers. I can't hold him away from you for long," Shiva explained, her perfect face contorted by a mix of rage and helplessness.

Luna wondered if she was ready to face Izunia once more, but there wasn't much more time for her, a panicked bark from Pryna resounding in her ears as Shiva vanished from her sight, replaced by warm mist. There was a flash across the space around her, forcing her eyes closed in fear it would be followed by another blinding flash. But none came and she looked up at the first sound of a step. Was there a floor to walk upon?

"So, you thought you could hide from me here?" Ardyn asked.

"I don't even know where we are," Luna admitted, hoping he would allow her the knowledge she lacked.

Knowledge was power and she needed all the power she could get.

"We're in a pocket of time. For how sure you sounded earlier, you've lost most of that bravado…"

The princess observed that he was still bleeding from the wound inflicted by her trident, feeling the warm fire of revenge burning in her heart.

"Didn't take time to fix yourself, or you couldn't, chancellor?"

He bared his teeth at her, his eyes glaring down to her soul. And that thought had Luna understanding what was actually going on. She wasn't in her body anymore. Flesh and bones didn't resist the passage of time, but their mind and spirit could. And for Ardyn, it meant taking a semi-corporeal appearance. She had to revise her hypothesis when his fist collided with her chest, sending her tumbling backward.

And the strange space surrounding her shifted.

"Messing with time only means one thing, your highness. Time always, always messes with you."

Luna blinked, the mist surrounding her replaced by steel walls and suspended bridges. Gralea's fortress… A voice she knew from as far as she could remember was panting heavily. Retching.

She blinked harder, faster, whipping around despite how little strength she had in her body, finding her brother kneeling on the ground, dark tarry spikes coming out from his left side.

"Rav…!"

He spat out dark blood, a violent trembling running up his spine and the spikes grew. There was a horn on his head. His body was devoured by the blight and shifting to a daemon's…

She tried activating her light, but it refused to appear and when she blinked away tears, the world rumbled and changed once more.

She spotted dark hair awkwardly standing up and realized the blue eyes she knew so well had turned red with the gods' powers.

Noctis stood, his hands empty except for the Lucii ring on his finger, his face eaten up by its magic, crackling and turning to ashes. The power was consuming him from the inside, his pain was clear as day, shattering Luna's ears as he uttered a broken scream. She didn't even have time to register where he was standing, blinking the vision into a second one.

Her mother was burning, tied up by chains inside a cage of fire, her hair ablaze, her clothes nothing but smoke, her eyes gone from her beautiful face. Luna felt her resolve waver.

 _It's not true, this is not…_

"There's a time where Sylva is always burning. Like there is so many times where you dear prince dies," Ardyn laughed at her.

Another blink meant a different flare of pain.

Noctis was sitting on his throne, looking older, more dashing, and yet something was amiss in his stance, her heart missing a beat as a bolt of lightning illuminated the sword stabbed deep in his abdomen.

Then it was Regis's turn, his back to her, facing Glauca all over again, standing even after taking that mortal wound her magic could never fix, falling only when the crystal knight kicked him to the ground. His wall crumbling with the last of his spirit.

" _Guide my son."_

Guiding Noctis seemed to only lead him to his doom, Luna waking up in a new dark room, gasping as a dozen lights came on from the ceiling, Noctis stepping over a bridge and standing before the crystal. She yelped as his family heirloom swallowed him whole, taking him away for countless days and nights.

"Only nights," Ardyn promised her. "Snuffing out your light means no more sun for this world."

 _I'm still alight,_ she thought desperately. _I'm not failing this world or its people just yet…_

But the visions rushed, overwhelming.

Nyx's tar-berry talking about the empire and her penalty.

 _It's a lie, it's a lie._

Noctis kneeling in front of a tombstone and refusing to get back up.

 _He knows he must go on even without me._

Her mother burning tears of dust, turning everything white to gray and everything gray to black.

 _It's not happening right now, there's no now, you need to stop this, Ardyn has no control over you…_

She couldn't believe it herself. And still she blinked.

Noctis was coughing and gasping for air. He was shirtless but that showed her just how bad he looked with the blight staining his skin. A snake of dark spots had gathered over him, wrapping around his heart and eating away at his strength. He was thin and weak, his legs failing him as he tried to push out of bed and outside of his tent, Luna discovered only more people suffering from the blight. Even his friends were victims, Gladiolus in an early state of daemonic shift. She tried to will her feet into moving, but her body was frozen, the only things she could do were cry, scream and blink.

The flash surrounding the change in vision was a darker version of the previous light causing her to close her eyes. She heard Ravus's voice again and couldn't bear to lift her eyelids once more, but the chancellor had found his way to her and forced her eyes open, his skin rough and burning against hers.

"Kill me, King of Lucis. I beg of you, make it end."

Noctis shook his head at the Tenebraen prince. They both looked so pale and out of breath. Had they been fighting?

 _Be safe,_ she pleaded, _maybe you both be safe, I can't…_

"KILL ME!" Ravus demanded, raising his deformed claw. A sword flashed in the air and her brother collapsed.

Deep down inside, Luna felt her heart collapsing too.

"There's a different way for this to end, would you love to see it?" Ardyn offered.

She shook her head no, but there was no stopping the mad man, even though she doubted he was even controlling the full extent of these visions. They were falling together in a loop made from all of her fears for her loved ones. And this time, Noctis refused to end Ravus, gurgling and shaking as the daemonic claw tore him apart.

 _No, no, no…!_

The flashes started overlapping, the faces warping, the people dying over and over. Her mother and flames. Ravus's arm chewed off by some monsters. Noctis lost and wounded. Noctis dying. Noctis disappearing. Noctis aging without her and taking another woman as queen. And dying again. And again.

Luna had been so busy suffering along with everyone she saw, she hadn't even tried to summon her light, maybe because it hadn't answered earlier when Ardyn struck her, but as she saw Noctis getting stabbed by his own father for the nth time, something broke deep within. A sound like nails against a chalkboard resounded in her head as she closed herself on the world. Then she heard Ardyn swearing out loud and dared to open her eyes once more.

She'd summoned a shield of light around herself and that magic nullified the timelines storm.

"There must be a good counterpart for every horror I just saw."

"There's no bright side to be found," Ardyn opposed her, envelopped in a red bubble of magic that allowed him to sail after her in a space without magic outside of their own powers.

The silence would have felt defeaning and Luna had no idea how she could be standing or holding her head up. She wanted to crawl into a corner and huddle down until her heart could process the visions imposed on her. Had her Noctis gone back to a present of pure pain? She knew he would be sad about losing her, a dark, selfish part of her took comfort in the fact her pain was shared, but the defiance was still there deep down. She didn't want to give up. How could she after seeing the various consequences of their failures? And the fact Noctis needed to give up on his life in order to save their world?

"Then I'll bring the light back to the world," she told herself, her trident materializing in her hand.

The frozen wound by her side was healing. Her energy was still low, but the adrenaline and fear were actually fueling her will. She needed to know Noctis would survive this. He had suffered too much to only be allowed 20 years and a few months of being himself before going back to the gods.

"You're tempting fate, Lunafreya. No Oracle can resurrect…"

"And yet you're Immortal and I am not dead yet," she managed.

"I was trying to save you some suffering. Dying is the only way out for people like us," the chancellor explained to her matter of factly.

There was a strange longing in his voice that left her wondering if maybe dying wasn't his end goal after all. She'd sensed the darkness and the pain in this man when he'd first stabbed her. It was a strange way to look at things, but somehow, Luna was convinced he'd killed her twice already. And if all those timelines existed at the same time. If jumping from one to another was just as easy as using those stitches in time to create illusions that could drive people crazy…

Then she had most certainly died multiple times. And to balance it out, she must have survived on an equal number of occasions. Which meant nothing was set in stone. Noctis had proved it by finding her in this past. Even if separate dimensions of Altissia were festering gardens of tarberries, Luna knew this was only because those places had been birthed by the blight infecting Izunia. Her light could surely outstretch beyond the fabric of time, otherwise, why would her loyal Umbra be able to carry anyone from one period to another?

"Oh, Glacean, lend me your strength," she prayed, her hands linking over the trident's she held in front of her. Her flesh woke with the prayer, her insides seizing as the fire had settled in her veins. The ice was unbearable and the pinpricks of blooming bruises on her chest from the violent punch she'd received mixed with the shifts and turns that had reverberated all the way down her wound.

Her knees buckled, but her trident hitting the ground didn't stop her from calling on her magic. And voices boomed inside her head as her prayer stretched into a chorus.

She recognized Titan's voice and Ramuh's dialect.

Had she left that much of an impression on them?

 _ **You did.**_

Her heart pumped a little more blood into her system and while a few drops trickled past the ice coating her stab wound, she mustered more words.

"Guide me back to my beloved so I may support him."

Shiva's voice chanted with her, melting away most of the pain.

A new vision engulfed Luna, with a train standing still on its rails. Prompto, Ignis and Gladio were all frozen in place and the only man standing despite his shivers was Noctis, who struggled forward.

 _My dear Noct_ , she thought, her arms opening for him.

For an instant, her thin shoes touched the tin floor. Her hair were blown around by the rushing gales of winds and Noctis fell to his knees. His eyes saw her, tears welling up.

 _I'm here, I'm here, Noct, catch me!_

Her voice was stuck in her throat and his words echoed the sentiment he'd confessed when they'd met in the past Altissia.

"All I wanted was to save you. There's so much… So much I still needed to tell you."

 _I'm saved, I'm saved, see me, hold me, I'll listen to you, I'll keep you safe, I just need…!_

Darkness snapped her back to the void of time where Ardyn was waiting, his hand breaking through her shield and the vision was gone, Noctis losing sight of her on the train and despairing he was growing insane.

"Can't you just _stay_ dead?!" Ardyn groaned.

Rage filled her and with it, Leviathan's voice rippled over the growing prayer she was reciting with the other Astrals. A wave of power pushed Ardyn back, Luna's eyes glowing a bright gold while the blight exuded from every of his pores.

"If I save myself now, maybe I can save you," she whispered.

That hit him better than a punch in the face, the chancellor throwing a punch her way before stepping away as he barely held himself together. He was supposed to be the bad guy, he was supposed to exact revenge on Noctis for everything his ancestors had stolen from him, and yet…

Bahamut's light covered Lunafreya's body, shielding her from any potential assault, hastening the healing of Shiva's ice on her wound. There would still be blood and a scar would remain, but the gods were convinced their Oracle wasn't yet due for her travel to the after life. She'd paid every price and was apparently able to mess up the Accursed One enough to keep him in one place and one time and devout his entire attention to her. Certainly, that was worthy of some praise since the Chosen King was the only one supposed to rival with the monster time and blight had created.

 _ **Go back, Oracle, go forth and make sure the future of our world can be bright.**_

Lunafreya vowed to make it so, her strength faltering as the voices pounded too deep into her skull. She breathed out and the magic leaped forward. Light flashing, thunder rippling. Time was altered and yet the only trace of it was a storm.

She came back to herself with a violent gasp, struggling to move around and heard a strong, harsh voice that brought tears to her eyes.

"Lunafreya?" Ravus called.

His metal arm hesitated only a second before wrapping around her shoulders, his human hand pushing away pale locks of hair from her face. His skin was so warm.

"Dear sister?"

She fought against the thick crust of dried tears sticking her eyes together, shivering as she realized she was wet and that the pain in her side was still vivid. She saw his haggard face looming from above, offering him a weak smile as she noticed her brother was crying.

"Ravus," she greeted him.

"How did you…?! You're bleeding, you're so cold, I…"

Seeing her brother losing all sense of his priorities was enough to convince her she had really been dead.

"I'm sorry for scaring you, I… I'll be fine now. Can you please hold me for just a little while?"

The memories of what she'd seen were still fresh and while she fought against nausea and the lingering pain of being stabbed… The fear was worse than anything else.

Ravus kissed her temple without thinking, holding her as close as he dared, kneeling on the ground beside her, gathering her in his lap. A sob wracked through him and she cried with him, although weakly because she had yet to gather back her strength.

"You're blighted, aren't you brother?"

"What?"

"I'll make sure you'll be fine as soon as I can stand up."

"Luna, worry about yourself first, please."

"No, I'm the one doing the asking. I'll let you run off and around Eos because otherwise we would have argued, but I can't… I won't lose you, you hear me?"

His shaking grew worse at that, Ravus hiding his face in her damp hair as his composure finished crumbling.

"I know how it feels, so the gods forbid I subject you to such pain, sister. We should really get you inside and dry."

A warm gust of wind surprised them, Luna wondering if this was Ramuh's doing. Ravus understood the way she shook her head meant she wanted to stay like this with him longer and relented. How could he refuse her anything after thinking she'd been gone for good?

"I'm not dreaming, am I?" he asked against her hair. "A world without your smile was…"

"If we're dreaming, we'd better not wake up until Noctis gets here," she sighed.

She could barely imagine how hard it would be to console her King. But if she could undo Ardyn's actions… Surely she could offer Noctis the comfort he needed after losing her twice.

To be continued…

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We finally know how Luna's doing! So now, next chapter is, as you might guess, the reunion between Noctis and Luna. And a little more chocobros HC, but only a little. Oh, and Prompto was on the train in that scene for one very reason. Ardyn was too busy dealing with Luna to go pester the boys and throw Prompto off the train. Our angel baby is safe!


	16. Are we really in the same now?

I know that in last chapter I had said we were two chapters away from the end, but I felt that this was enough in the end. I hope it will be a satisfying last chapter. Without further ado, enjoy!

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Calling Umbra

Chapter 15 – Are we really in the same "now" ?

It was Ignis's insisting on it that convinced Noctis to stop in Tenebrae. The poor man was so gloomy and saddened by this new loss, he wasn't sure he had the heart to see her home all by himself.

"We could all use the break," Gladio noted.

Prompto's confession about being from the empire had been taken in stride. At first, neither Ignis nor Gladiolus knew how to handle it, but Noctis's answer "so what if you were born back there?!" had mended most of the gunman's fears.

Prompto and Noctis had talked for a good part of the train ride, the prince apologizing when he realized the level of fear his friend was under for most of his life at the idea his link to the empire could ever be discovered…

He was still getting over that and had promised Prompto they'd do their best to understand what had happened for him to be adopted into Lucis despite being a child of the empire. Having a smaller goal than saving the whole world was somehow refreshing.

Stepping down from the train and into the station, Noctis was hoping he would keep his feelings together and not tear up at the sight of blue flowers or some pictures on magazines. The vision on the train as Shiva forged a covenant with him had pushed him back to the edge and standing tall with a straight face was all he could do if he bit into his tongue hard enough to remind himself that pain could be physical and not only in his heart.

Every night, his friends had stayed close, afraid he would relapse in a panic attack like he had when they camped in the swamps where that royal arm was hidden. Whenever his eyes closed, he tried remembering the look in her eyes when he'd held her between his arms. His lips had already forgotten the taste of her smiles and he was afraid her voice would vanish from his memories too. He didn't have a whole lot of pictures, and while he could count on saved files from her speeches on the radio, he wanted something that had been meant only for him. Like her fingers on his skin and the blush on her cheeks.

 _I'm so selfish,_ he thought to himself, seeing how Ignis needed guidance to make it down the stone stairs. The three of them had tried as hard as possible to make their former cook's life as easy as possible. The only attempt Noctis and Prompto had made at cooking had turned into nothing but a side of spinach salad that was tasty but lacking the nutrients they needed to make it through the day.

But focusing on Ignis's misery and the many ways Noctis had failed his friends and people wasn't enough to handle the feelings invading him as he spotted Festenala manor. His eyes burned as he remembered seeing this enchanting vision with his father pushing his wheelchair for him.

Now he was standing on his own two feet and yet, everything felt wrong.

"Do you mind if I give the place a look on my own for now?" he asked the others.

"Just don't stray too far," Gladiolus warned him, squeezing Ignis's shoulder in fear the man would have a relapse of his own.

They were all far too weary for their own good and none of them knew how to change it. Being alive was barely enough to feel lucky. Every stranger they met on the street left them feeling worried they would repeat the same sentence one time too many and start oozing black tar. The horror movie on the train the other night hadn't helped either.

Exchanging nods and promising to meet with them in a matter of hours, Noctis took off in a brisk walk, realizing a few steps later that his face was getting recognized a lot more than was usual.

"Prince Noctis, prince Noctis!" a little girl called out.

His brain froze as he wondered if he hadn't travelled back in time. But the girl had brown hair and dark eyes, unlike the young Luna he remembered and he knew better than to pretend Umbra could even take him that far back. The dog had been strangely quiet for the past few days, cuddling with him for sleep instead of vanishing into the night like he would normally.

"Hey," Noctis greeted the child, crouching to look her in the eye with the gentlest smile he could muster.

"Were you excited to marry lady Lunafreya?" the girl asked him eagerly.

"I…"

"Because she was really happy when her dress came and couldn't wait to see you. She loves you very, very much!"

The knot in his throat was the size of Gladio's fist.

" _I love you so much, Noct, don't leave without me. I need more of you. All of you."_

He remembered the sheer pain on her face, how desperate Luna had been for every kiss, for every touch. One night instead of a lifetime together. And he had barely managed to let her know how excited he had been about the wedding himself.

How was he supposed to look at that little girl when he couldn't breathe or look at himself in the glass? He'd tried, twice, thrice, and yet…

His silence left the child wondering if her well-meaning comment wasn't bothering the prince and she bounced nervously on her feet.

"She's been waiting for you," she added with a small voice.

Noctis frowned, processing the words but not their meaning.

"Luna's…?"

"In the gardens. Lord Ravus asked anyone who'd see you to warn you she was waiting."

Noctis couldn't help a sense of déjà vu. It was as though he'd been here before and things had worked like this, just in a different way. His eyes turned rough and the girl took a step back.

"Ravus is here?"

He'd heard on the radio the prince had been called back to the empire, hadn't he? Or was he mixing things together? Ignis had said Ravus had been wounded during the battle at the altar. Ardyn had used his dark powers against the prince and…

 _Luna might just be here, what are you worrying about, you idiot?!_

The girl simply nodded, pointing over her shoulder at the garden and Noctis forced a wavering smile as a thank you, rushing past her. His feet had never walked on these stones or this grass. He had been weak and small the last time he was here and yet, he felt even weaker and smaller deep down.

 _It's another trick, how could she have gotten all the way over here, how can she even be…?!_

He remembered her blood in that dark room Ardyn had trapped him in. The tortures done to her. The needles poking at her skin, the breaking of bones and her cries of pain.

His legs were walking so fast, he nearly slipped on the grass as he got off the bridge.

Noctis remembered her hands holding his and the ghost of her smile as she gave her speech by the altar. Her hair saturated with salty water and the blood on her white dress…

He spotted the sylleblossoms and swallowed back that awful vision of her fading in a sea of flowers. He didn't even realize when he took off running, he was afraid to call forth any of his magic, afraid he could break the strange spell he was under as his heart dared to believe that maybe there was still a chance.

"Noct!"

He halted at the sound of his name, panting and shaking as his eyes took her in. She was sitting among the flowers, their petals brushing against her shoulders. She was pale as always, but there was color in her face, a soft bark barely catching his attention. Pryna was sitting by her mistress, looking just as alive as Lunafreya.

"Luna…?" he managed as he looked for air.

She nodded to him, her smile soft, too soft, threatening to melt his heart and his eyes were burning again, he blinked them hard, wishing he didn't need to blink.

"I'd run up to you, but I can't walk very well yet," she confessed after giving him a few more seconds to get accustomed to the fact she was actually there.

That threw Noctis back into motion, the young man warping next to her without even thinking, his legs giving up on him so he could kneel in front of her and reach both hands out. Although he couldn't muster the nerve to touch her, not when he remembered how the last time he'd been holding her close, she'd vanished from his touch… The apologies that came as she gasped in shock at the sudden approach were stuck in his throat, his shoulders shaking and her smile broke down for the slightest second.

"I had to take a roundabout way to follow you back to this time, but I'm truly here now, dear Noctis."

Her hands touched his, their fingers lacing in a rush for confirmation that they were both truly alive. His blue eyes were filled with questions, but Luna felt herself crying just from the emotions filling her breast.

"I… Luna… How…?" He shook his head, wishing he could be eloquent, wishing he could…

"You gave me the will to try and find another way. When you fell back to the present with Umbra, I was pulled into another time. Ardyn…"

She shivered from head to toe, Noctis grabbing her shoulders as he shuffled forward.

"Luna…"

"You could say I fought him," she tried to explain herself, fighting against another tremble as she went on, "I did, in a way, but I wasn't able to defeat him. The Astrals came to my help. Offered me a chance to come back and be by your side. For once, you were my only prayer, Noct," her voice broke over his name.

Her tears spilled over and it was his turn to shake his head as he sensed how relieved she was for this prayer and the fact he was finally here.

"I thought I had failed you…" he whispered, his breath catching as he fought against a fresh sob.

He'd thought he'd cried enough to last him a lifetime, but seeing her right now was far too overwhelming.

"I'm here, Noctis, I'm here," she assured him, lifting his hand up to breathe against his knuckles, guiding his other one to her beating heart.

She felt warm and he sensed her pulse, his fingers travelling from her chest to her throat to confirm he wasn't dreaming it up.

"Oh Luna, Luna, tell me what I can and can't do, I don't know…"

"You can touch me and hold me, Noct, I won't break," she told him, blushing as she struggled forward. He blinked at her, thrown back to not so long ago when she'd last told her those exact same words. Was it always going to be like this between them? "I'm just weak," Luna went on, "I didn't eat at all back in that version of Altissia, not until you showed up, and the travel back took a small toll after…"

Her hand went to her side, where the wound was mostly healed, but still quite tender. Ravus had her treated by the best doctors in Altissia, keeping her return as secret as possible until he was certain she wasn't in a critical condition anymore. The scar looked worse than it should, her skin burned with the healing frostbite Shiva had used to reverse the damage.

"What happened?" he pleaded for the knowledge, his hands gently cupping her face, Luna reaching up to cover his wrists and hold him in place, leaning into his comforting touch.

She wanted to wait, to give him time to focus on the fact she was truly saved, but knew that waiting wouldn't make the truth any easier to hear for him.

"He stabbed me…" she breathed out.

The curse escaping Noctis' lips made her shiver and she kissed his right palm, hoping to calm him down, realizing that touching him was actually comforting for them both.

"I think he was making sure I would be the same Luna you saw at the Altar."

"Don't talk like that," Noctis protested, "there's one Lunafreya and I have her here in front of me. I'm just…" He caressed her hair, all the way down to her jaw, his eyes covering her with love and his hands were firmer as she sighed with contentment as his touch. "The gods help me, Luna, I could scream and shatter from the inside all at once and I don't know where to start!"

"Please, don't shatter now. I wanted to mend you, to come back and be able to protect you, but I feel so weak…"

She inched forward, gripping to his coat with both hands and Noctis refused to hold back anymore, lifting her onto his lap, Luna wincing only to promise him she was fine.

"Being alive means aching all over apparently," she tried to joke.

Noctis let out a shuddering breath, words failing him. How selfish could he be?

"Should you really be sitting out here if you're hurting that much?"

"The fresh air is doing me a lot of good," she comforted him. "And I wanted to see you here. To replace that vision you had with something good."

Her hand reached up to push unruly locks behind his ear, the prince heaving a sigh.

"Now, I can do the looking after. Make sure my princess heals back fully and doesn't push herself again."

Her blush mended some of the suffering that had been weighing him down lately.

"As long as you don't start being patronizing with me. I'm still your elder."

She was really hoping that vision of much older Noctis wasn't going to turn into a reality too soon. She finally had a chance to shelter him properly, even if her arms barely held up at the moment. She struggled to wrap both arms across his neck, whining plaintively in the hopes he would understand her need.

"What is it my elder wants?" he asked, frowning in playful pretense.

It felt almost weird to act "normally" but they both needed it, he could tell from the way she relaxed between his arms.

"She needs a kiss," Luna told him.

"She should be warned, only one kiss would mean a lot of self-control from this prince. I thought I would never…"

She pulled on his hair, huffing in impatience, which reminded him of their one night together where Luna had taken the reins. He followed her hands, locking his lips with hers, hesitant and soft in the pressure he put on her at first, only to turn wilder as she welcomed him with the fire raging in her heart.

She had been dead and resurrected, and as much as she would deny it, it made her feel anxious. She was still afraid to fall asleep, still afraid to wake up in a world without time, a world without him.

Noctis held her to him, kissing her to memory, nibbling at her bottom lip and relishing her soft whine as he did.

"Luna, I'm so raw, I don't want to be rough with you," he confessed, blushing as he looked for air.

She retorted by slipping her hands under his shirt, grazing at his back with her nails, trying to mimic the way she'd touched him that night they shared everything.

His following kiss was anything but soft, their nose bumping into each other, but she welcomed the rush, because it meant just how badly he needed her. Surely almost as badly as she'd needed him for all those years.

They remained entranced by one another until a throat clearing up had them pulling apart, Luna needing to lean her head against Noctis's chest as she felt dizzy.

Ravus Nox Fleuret was standing a few feet away, Umbra and Pryna jumping around him as they played together despite the dark look in his eyes, the picture more comical than threatening.

"Oh, can you let me be for a few more hours, brother?" Luna couldn't help herself.

Her clear annoyance had his face breaking into a smirk.

"I'm glad your prince finally arrived," Ravus stated. "But if you're going to suck each other's face like wanton teenagers, maybe you could move to a more secluded area. There are children that come to play here," he chided them.

Noctis was incredibly surprised by those words. He expected the Tenebrean prince to be an ass like usual, but it seemed the return of his sister had softened Ravus.

"I'm fine, Rave," Luna insisted.

"Not if you skip on your lunch," her brother observed, his voice stern despite hints of warmth. "I expect you to properly look after her, Lucian."

"The name's Noctis," the dark-haired couldn't help himself.

Ravus shook his head at the pair, whistling to have both Pryna and Umbra following him back to the manor.

"By the gods, Noct, I think this is the first time you've talked back to him!" Luna giggled, covering her mouth as she realized he might take it badly.

Instead he laughed with her.

"Is that how glorious it feels every time? I should have done so before!"

They wanted to resume making out like the lovesick couple they were, but Noctis gathered that some time had passed since he'd run off and grabbed his phone to text his friends.

"Of course they can stay over," Luna smiled at him. "They're all more than welcome. It's going to be nice to spend time with them for real. I barely got a chance to have a civilized talk with either Prompto or Ignis."

"Don't tell me Gladiolus still intimidates you," Noctis chuckled.

"On the contrary!" she protested. "I hope he's doing better."

Noctis couldn't help but wonder about that. Were any of his brothers fine?

"We'll have to look after them too once you're back on your feet. With me around, I hope it will happen in no time."

"If you give me the proper incentive, I'll be running before you know it. My legs work, I just lack muscle tone."

"My kitten princess," he teased her, kissing her brow and she wanted to hold back on her fresh giggling because this needed some chiding, but being in Noctis's arms once more was so good.

She was ready to forgive almost anything.

"Kiss me properly," she demanded.

He did with a wide smile, the pair interrupted by a barking laugh as Gladio, Prompto and Ignis hurried up to them. Prompto was leading the way, Gladio helping Ignis maneuver on the tall grass.

"Noctis, let the poor princess breathe so we can see it's actually her!" Prompto teased him excitedly.

"What a miracle…" Ignis mused, Gladio seconding him.

"When I think he didn't want to stop here at first," the Shield smiled, shaking his head.

"Don't listen to either of them, Luna," Noctis told her, the princess simply smiling, overwhelmed by the warm grins on each of their face.

"It's so good to see you all again," she greeted them. "I promise, there'll be no vanishing this time," she added, her voice wavering slightly.

"There had better not be," Ignis sighed, Noctis nodding his ascent, his throat suddenly too tight for words.

For a moment, they all stood still, trying to process the fact they were truly seeing her, that somehow, their torturous travel back in time had bore something good. The Oracle was saved, and their prince was looking alive once more. Of course, they had questions, but most of all, they wanted to enjoy this reprieve.

"I feel like I should thank you for keeping Noctis safe until we found each other," the princes started, her eyes meeting each of their gazes in turn. "Be it in a foreign past or in this time," she continued. "You are all welcomed in my home, for as long as you'll need."

They nodded or thanked her out loud, Prompto hastily wiping a tear as he realized he wasn't dreaming.

"Enough teary-talk," Noctis decided, lifting Luna in his arms as he got to his feet, smiling as she gripped to his shirt instinctively. "We have a princess to escort back to her manor."

"Need help carrying her?" Gladiolus offered cheekily,

"You're supposed to make sure the path is clear of danger, not take his fiancée away from him," Prompto instantly reminded him.

Ignis simply chuckled, grateful for the familiar teasing and banter. It had been a while since he last remembered them being themselves. The little group made their way to the manor, Luna explaining everything she could about how the islands floated and the magic that imbued her land, happy to find such good listeners in all three of Noctis's friends. Everything she said, she'd already told her fiancé. And she felt giddy inside at the idea she could see him just as that. Not the Chosen King, nor a King. Her fiancé. The man who loved her enough to risk travelling through time. The man she loved enough to challenge the gods and her very own fate.

Maids offered to give quarters to the three men accompanying the prince, Noctis and Luna securing some food to steal away by themselves and hide in the princess's room. A few pieces of furniture had changed, but Noctis realized that the ones who had changed the most were him and Luna. For the first time, he felt tall and strong between those walls. And while Luna seemed frail in his hold, she was every bit as strong for having make it back to him in one piece.

He gently laid her down on the mattress, climbing after her with eager eyes and even more eager hands.

"I need a dog to travel me across time and you do it only with your light," he observed.

"I had your love in my heart," she told him, blushing as he traced the spot on her chest where her heart was beating.

"I have more love to pour in there," he confessed to her, wondering if the feelings rushing through him weren't wrong. There was so much panic left, how was he supposed to tame it back? "I barely had any time to show you how I felt."

"We have all the time in the world now," she assured him, her hands cupping his face.

He bent over her, holding her safe and close, stopping just shy of her rosy lips.

"I almost forgot. The wedding. If you still want it to happen… I… I was so excited to call you my wife."

Her blush was adorable, and her smile made his heart sore.

"I want everything with you, Noct. We can have the wedding here. Something quiet, just for us."

His kiss meant a dozen affirmations to her suggestion as he lost himself in her arms with a confidence he'd barely learned during that first -and last- night with her. Except that word had to be banished for his dictionary now. There was no last, only a lasting warmth that threatened to set him on fire if he didn't have her touch to settle it back down. No parting words or terrified vows exchanged in a rush this time, no time to stretch them apart.

Noctis's goal in Calling Umbra had been achieved. Now, both Luna and him could face whatever was to come together. And he wasn't going to let anything hurt her again if he could help it.

The End…

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At least, until I pick this back up for the other idea I have, but we can seriously leave it as it is. Noctis and Luna are reunited after all, and both alive. I want to leave it up to you as to what could happen next, but you can know for sure that Luna will not let Noctis out of her sight. Neither will he.

I hope you enjoyed the conclusion of this story. It was a blast to write it and I'm so happy to say I brought it to a satisfying end in my standards. Now I can try and focus on the other stories I have going lol


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